<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Raising Love by zavocado</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24159082">Raising Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/zavocado/pseuds/zavocado'>zavocado</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire &amp; Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Jon and Dany as Hogwarts Students, Romance, more to be added probably - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:29:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24159082</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/zavocado/pseuds/zavocado</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hogwarts sixth-years, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, aren’t friends. Jon could count on one hand the numbers of times they’d spoken. Different houses, different lives, different paths through the same castle. But their owls have other ideas...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>413</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welp, kids, here's that Hogwarts Jonerys I've been talking about off and on for a while now. It's going to be several parts as I write them, though I'm not sure how many. 6 or so probably. We'll see. Not more than 10. This is just a short one.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>

<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>“<em> You!” </em></p>
<p>A small hand yanked Jon out of the line of students queuing into the Great Hall for dinner and slammed his back against the banister of the marble staircase. His bag slipped off his shoulder and dropped with a heavy <em> thump </em> to the stone floor. Daenerys Targaryen glared up at him. Her platinum hair gleamed in the candlelight. Fury was etched into every line of her pretty face.</p>
<p>Jon raised his hands in protest. “Whatever it is, I didn’t—”</p>
<p>“Yes. You. Did.”</p>
<p>Daenerys smacked his hands aside and shoved her finger in his face. Her cheeks were turned from pink to ruby. She stamped her foot and looked more ready to spit venom than a snake.</p>
<p>“You—and your—this is <em> all </em> your—”</p>
<p>“Woah, leave Jon alone, Targaryen. He doesn’t have anything to do with you.”</p>
<p>Robb had just turned the corner and joined them at the base of the staircase. And clearly, he had said the wrong thing. Daenerys’s wand appeared in her hand at once. She aimed its polished, dark point so close to Robb’s forehead that his eyes crossed.</p>
<p>“Go,” Dany snapped at him. “Go gorge yourself on house elf labor while I have a <em> word </em> with your cousin. <em> Move! </em>”</p>
<p>Robb gave Jon an apologetic look, then scampered into the packed Hall. He disappeared into the sea of black robes that filled the Gryffindor table. Jon glared at his back, then yelped when Dany’s wand smacked him on the nose. They’d never spoken properly before, despite sharing classes for the last six years. A few words once or twice in classes, but that was it. And he’d seen firsthand how dangerous Daenerys was with her wand in hand. Besides himself, she was the only sixth year proficient at duelling. The rest of their year-mates managed fine, but they couldn’t compete with Daenerys.</p>
<p>  “Clear off, you lot!”</p>
<p>Daenerys’s order was obeyed at once by the remaining group of third years. Jon spotted Sansa’s fiery hair among them before they too disappeared into the Great Hall. As soon as they were alone in the entrance hall, Daenerys rounded on him again. She did, at least, tuck her wand back into her pocket, but all the same, she looked ready to slap him.</p>
<p>“Follow me.”</p>
<p>“Why—”</p>
<p>She moved for her wand. “Don’t make me Stun and drag you.”</p>
<p>“But I didn’t—”</p>
<p>“Do you or do you not own the only snowy albino owl in the castle?”</p>
<p>Jon was so caught off guard by the question, he could only gape at her. Daenerys scooped up his bag and shoved it into his chest.</p>
<p>“We’re going to the Owlery, Snow.”</p>
<p>“But what’s Ghost have to do with—”</p>
<p>She gave him a rough push toward the marble staircase, then poked him in the back with the end of her wand. They marched up to the fourth floor, past Professor Lannister’s office and to the base of West Tower. Jon glanced back at her still angry face and headed up first, sighing. He couldn’t imagine that Ghost—his sweet, snowy owl—had done anything horrible. Since his first year at Hogwarts, when his mother had bought Ghost for him on his eleventh birthday, the snowy owl had been gentle and affectionate. He’d never failed in a delivery, had only been rude to Sansa whenever she got too snotty toward Jon. </p>
<p>
  <em> What could Ghost do to piss Daenerys Targaryen off so much? What have you gone and done, boy? </em>
</p>
<p>“In.”</p>
<p>Another hard jab of her wand pressed between Jon’s shoulder blades. He opened the wooden door and stepped into the drafty Owlery. Each window was glassless, the floor covered in straw, owl droppings, and regurgitated mice and vole skeletons. Overhead, a few owls swooped in and out of the windows as a ruby autumn dusk settled over the castle grounds. A number of hoots greeted them, but then something cuffed him on the head.</p>
<p>“Ouch!”</p>
<p>Ghost gave a welcoming screech, but instead of landing on Jon’s shoulder like normal, he swooped back around and dived for Daenerys.</p>
<p>“Keep back, you stupid owl!”</p>
<p>She raised her wand and Jon moved between them, knocking it aside. </p>
<p>“Don’t hurt him!”</p>
<p>“Then tell him to stop dive-bombing me and let me near Drogon!”</p>
<p>Jon glanced upward and found the perches and rafters had emptied in a hurry except for Ghost’s pale feathers and a dark screech owl with her head tucked under her wing. Ghost glared down at them both reproachfully.</p>
<p>“Ghost, stop attacking Daenerys! Come here.”</p>
<p>His snowy owl clicked his beak at him.</p>
<p>“Come <em> here </em>. Ghost, get down here.”</p>
<p>Instead, Ghost turned his tail to him and cozied up with the black owl still sleeping beside him. Daenerys took a slow step closer to him, glaring up at the pair of owls.</p>
<p>“Your owl is a menace.”</p>
<p>“He’s usually very nice,” Jon told her. He squinted up at the pair, then back to her. “Is the black one yours?”</p>
<p>“Drogon.” Daenerys shoved her wand in her robe pocket and kicked at the bones on the floor. “She won’t… I need her to take a letter to my brother and she’s ignoring me and <em> your </em> stupid owl keeps trying to take my scalp off.”</p>
<p>“Sorry.”</p>
<p>Jon examined the rafters and perches for a moment, then pushed up his robe sleeves. “Nothing to it then.”</p>
<p>“What do you—Jon Snow, what are you <em> doing </em>?”</p>
<p>He’d already hoisted himself up onto the first wooden rafter, awkwardly straddling the beam. Ghost’s peered down at him with one reproachful scarlet eye.</p>
<p>“I’m going to coax him away from her, so you can send your letter.”</p>
<p>Daenerys watched him climb in disbelief. As Jon hoisted himself to the second to last beam, both Ghost and Drogon shuffled above him. Daenerys’s owl screeched at him, fanning out her wings, and that’s when Jon spotted it.</p>
<p>“She’s made some kind of nest,” Jon called down, squinting up at the owls above him. </p>
<p>“A nest?”</p>
<p>“Looks like it.”</p>
<p>Jon grasped the beam he was sitting on, carefully found his footing, and stood. The perch Ghost and Drogon had taken was a good four feet above his own. He grasped it with his hands and slid sideways toward the owls. Drogon gave another warning screech, but Ghost shuffled closer. His scarlet eyes looked wary.</p>
<p>“Shh, hey, Ghost, it’s just me. I know you two are, er, friends, but Daenerys needs to send a letter, okay? So you’ve got to—uh oh.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean ‘uh oh’?”</p>
<p>For Jon had just seen the explanation for the nest Drogon was settled on. She shifted her tail again and Jon was sure then. Four beautiful speckled eggs were tucked under her.</p>
<p>“Um, Drogon’s uh… gods, Ghost, if you wanted a mate I could have gotten a second owl for a companion?”</p>
<p>“A <em> mate </em>?!”</p>
<p>“She’s laid—<em> ouch </em>!”</p>
<p>Daenerys had chunked one of the mice skulls at him. It smacked his cheek then ricocheted off the beams back to the floor. Jon rubbed his face and met her glare with one of his own.</p>
<p>“What was that for?”</p>
<p>“Your owl took advantage of mine, that’s what for!”</p>
<p>“He did not!” Jon waved his hand at the pair of owls, then hugged the beam tight when he nearly lost his balance. “Look at them, all cuddled up.”</p>
<p>Another tiny skull nearly missed his nose.</p>
<p>“Would you stop throwing shit at me before I fall and break my neck?”</p>
<p>Daenerys huffed then began to pace the Owlery as Jon gave Ghost a quick stroke and climbed back down. As soon as his shoes hit the floor, Daenerys was in his face.</p>
<p>“Your owl is—”</p>
<p>“Quite cozy with yours, yeah.” Jon glowered at her, then stared up at the pair. “She’s nesting, I’m not sure there’s much we can do until they hatch.”</p>
<p>Daenerys stared at him for so long, Jon was certain she was imagining all the different ways she could curse him with a hairy face or a warty tongue. Then she poked him hard in the chest.</p>
<p>“And what do you plan to <em> do </em> with your monster’s little owlets when they hatch? Because I am <em> not </em>—”</p>
<p>“They’re as much my responsibility as <em> yours </em> . It takes two to… well, to do <em> that. </em>”</p>
<p>He could feel the heat in his cheeks as he looked away from her. A few owls swooped back in through the glassless windows with frogs and mice in their beaks. Jon tried to steer the conversation to a more amicable area.</p>
<p>“Look, we’ll use a school owl to take your letter. Tomorrow we can ask one of the professors what to do about them.”</p>
<p>Daenerys considered him as Jon coaxed one of the barn owls within reach. It held its leg out and Daenerys busied herself with tying her letter to it. </p>
<p>Jon thought over their options. Professor Lannister would only make jokes, and Professor Aemon was a history scholar, not a man learned in the nature of owls and other beasts. Most of their professors wouldn’t be much help except perhaps to scold them for not minding their owls better. Professor Tarly, the new Care of Magical Creatures instructor, might be a good choice. He was only a few years their senior and quite nice, if a bit skittish around students. Jon had only a vague recollection of the round-faced boy who’d been a fifth year when he’d first arrived at Hogwarts. As a professor, he was still rather skittish, though overly enthusiastic and kind enough.</p>
<p>“We can ask Professor Tarly tomorrow,” Jon told her as the barn owl took off through the window, Daenerys’s letter attached to its leg. “He’s a bit odd, but he’s nice. I think we could convince him to help.”</p>
<p>“Or at least get the information we need.” A hard glint was in her eyes, a soft shade of violet and blue like the winter roses and lilacs that filled his mother’s garden at home. “I am not spending my sixth year raising owlets because your albino menace got overly flirty.”</p>
<p>“Maybe Drogon was the overly flirty one,” he snapped back.</p>
<p>They glared at each other.</p>
<p>“It’s not my fault either. Drogon isn’t…”</p>
<p>Jon blew out a frustrated breath as his stomach rumbled. “Look, it’s nobody’s fault. And arguing about it doesn’t change that it’s happened. Let’s just get dinner before it’s over. I’m starving.”</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes. “Fine.”</p>
<p>Their walk back to the Great Hall was both slower and quieter. The corridors were deserted except for the Fat Friar, who waved merrily as they passed.</p>
<p>“I suppose we could give the owlets away, once they’re old enough,” she said as they arrived in the entrance hall. “To other students who’d like their own owl but don’t have the money to buy one.”</p>
<p>“If we can convince Ghost and Drogon to part with their babies,” he reminded her.</p>
<p>She stamped her foot again. “<em> Ugh </em>, this is a mess. Tomorrow we’ll meet before class, breakfast by the willow next to the lake.”</p>
<p>“But—”</p>
<p>“No buts,” she snapped. “I don’t care how far that is from Gryffindor Tower, we—”</p>
<p>“Hufflepuff.” Jon flushed a bit as she stammered to a halt. “My cousins are in Gryffindor, I’m in Hufflepuff.”</p>
<p>“Oh, right. I… sorry.” And for once, she did look apologetic. It was an uncomfortable spot, being the only member of the Stark family not in Gryffindor. “Hufflepuff is…?”</p>
<p>“Basement, by the kitchens.”</p>
<p>Her whole face lit up. She almost looked nice. “You know where the kitchens are? Have you been in to see the house elves? Do you know—”</p>
<p>“Tomorrow for breakfast,” Jon said, cutting her off before she could get going. His stomach growled again. “How’s eight o’clock?”</p>
<p>“Fine, Snow.”</p>
<p>And with that Daenerys Targaryen flounced away from him, toward the Slytherin table across the Great Hall.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>He could hardly focus that evening after he’d stuffed his face at the Hufflepuff table. All around him the round, cozy Hufflepuff common room was packed and noisy. Jon had taken his favorite seat beside the fire, trying and failing to finish his essay for Potions.</p>
<p>“—and in conclusion bygones will share you from most poisons but not all?”</p>
<p>Val snorted as she read over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Using one of those Spell-Checking quills, Snow? Looks like the spell’s about worn off.”</p>
<p>Jon reread his last sentence, grimaced, and scratched out the incorrect words. “<em> Bezoars </em> will <em> save </em> you,” he muttered, jotting that down. “You finished already?”</p>
<p>“Haven’t started.” Val dropped into the armchair beside him, kicking her legs over the arm carelessly. They were the only sixth-year Hufflepuffs in N.E.W.T. Potions, and Jon was glad for it. She was hardworking and tireless—at least, when she felt like it. Val could procrastinate like a hibernating bear. But she was more than willing to do her own work and carry her own weight. “Can’t be too tough. Not as tough as <em> your </em> new project.”</p>
<p>Jon hummed in feigned interest.</p>
<p>“You know, you and Slytherin’s little princess,” Val continued, nudging his quill hand with her shoe. His last word trailed off in a squiggly, illegible mess. “She seemed quite... <em> hot </em>headed for you.”</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes. “Not as much as Ghost is for her owl apparently.”</p>
<p>That stopped Val in her tracks. “Ghost is… come again?”</p>
<p>“Bet he’d like to,” Jon muttered as he pulled out a fresh roll of parchment to write out a clean copy of his essay. When Val kicked his elbow, he added, “Ghost and Drogon—that’s her owl—are nesting. They’ve got eggs and everything. He kept dive-bombing her when she tried to get near them to send a letter.”</p>
<p>“Huh.” Val gave him a blank stare for a moment, then shrugged. “Suppose one of you needs to get some. Good for Ghost, Slytherin owl or not.”</p>
<p>Jon rolled his eyes. “I’m fine without wasting my Hogsmeade trips in Madam Puddifoot’s fluorescent pink nightmare.”</p>
<p>Val snorted and finally started pulling out her books, quills, and parchment. “Don’t recall Ygritte ever dragging you there.”</p>
<p>Jon stiffened. His ex hadn’t been the frilly type, but she hadn’t had the easiest temperament either. Their only couples trip to Hogsmeade had been a muddy trek from the castle to the Three Broomsticks and then the Shrieking Shack. Ygritte had graduated last year, but not before they’d broken up. At the time, he’d been full of regret and heartache over it, but summer had changed his mind.</p>
<p>Being single was far easier.</p>
<p>“She was more a Shrieking Shack sort.” Jon set his essay aside to dry and packed his books and supplies away. “Don’t forget practice is Saturday morning this year. Gryffindor’s new captain whined until he got our old slot.”</p>
<p>“As you say, Captain.” Val muttered as he stood. “Wait, isn’t Stark the new captain?”</p>
<p>“Yup,” Jon said cheerfully. “My blasted cousin whined and begged and gave me a dozen things I wanted before I finally relented and said I’d move ours.”</p>
<p>He left Val laughing by the fire, turning down the winding hall that branched off to the boys’ dormitories. Unlike his cousins up in Gryffindor Tower, the Hufflepuff dormitories were all on the same level, just winding in a great circle at the base of one of the great towers. His dormitory was empty except for Grenn’s barn owl, awaiting Jon’s housemate with a messily bound scroll.</p>
<p>Jon changed into his pajamas, grabbed a book and scrap of parchment, and shut himself away behind the yellow and black drapes on his four-poster. Once he was settled, he dipped his quill in his inkpot, and began to write:</p>
<p>
  <em> Dear Mum, </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> You’re never going to believe what Ghost did… </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another Tuesday, another update!</p>
<p>This one is Dany's POV. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>

<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>Dany was up at dawn, shutting her alarm off with the first chirp, and climbing silently out of bed. The underwater gloom of the Slytherin dormitories gave no obvious signs of the morning. Down here, it was always dark. Glittering green reflections from the lake scattered across the walls around the room. Her bed was right next to the great window that peered into the murky depths of the water.</p>
<p>She’d gotten up special, to give herself extra time before her breakfast meeting.</p>
<p>Dany scowled as she recalled Snow and his pesky monster of an owl.</p>
<p>An hour later, showered, dressed, and with her hair braided, Dany made her way through the dungeons up to the entrance hall. Everything was quiet this early. Strands of pale sunlight were just peaking through the high windows of the Great Hall. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling was still a dusky gray-blue. Every table was empty. This early it always was. </p>
<p>She grabbed a seat at the Slytherin table, tapped her plate, and said, “Tomatoes and eggs, please, friends.”</p>
<p>At once, her order was filled. Dany said her thanks to the poor house elves hard at work somewhere in the kitchens below. In six years, she’d never managed to find the kitchens to speak directly to them. Just once she’d glimpsed a house elf in the Slytherin common room, late one Saturday night. It had fled at the sight of her.</p>
<p>
  <em> Jon Snow can tell me how to get down to them. I’ll find a way to help them have better lives. </em>
</p>
<p>Dany was halfway through her meal when someone’s squeaky shoes shuffled into the room. Instead of a professor, it was Jon Snow. He looked tired beyond belief as he dropped into a spot at the Hufflepuff table. And then he sat there sleepily, staring at the empty plates and dishes, seemingly clueless on what to do so early. She’d never seen him here this early.</p>
<p>After another dozen bites, while Jon glanced around the hall in confusion, Dany finally took pity on him. He jolted in surprise as she dropped her plate down next to his.</p>
<p>“You have to order this early,” Dany explained. “Tell them what you want and they’ll send it up.”</p>
<p>“Oh. Like, uh, to the plate or…”</p>
<p>Dany rolled her eyes. “Eggs and toast,” she told Jon’s plate. It appeared a second later, steaming and fresh. “You didn’t<em> have </em>to get up this early, Snow. The whole point was breakfast while we talked.”</p>
<p>He stuffed an entire slice of toast into his mouth, chewed slowly, then swallowed. “You’re one to talk,” Jon said, nodding at her almost finished meal. “Guess waiting is overrated.”</p>
<p>“Depends on the situation,” Dany countered. “Breakfast is a first in the morning, no holds bar sort of event.”</p>
<p>Jon grabbed a napkin, stacked his toast on it, then shoved his eggs into his mouth. He clambered to his feet and jerked his head toward the entrance hall. Dany took it as an invitation, however impolite it was.</p>
<p>“Why thank you, Snow, how gallant you are.”</p>
<p>“Hufflepuff,” he reminded her after chewing and swallowing loudly. “Gallant chivalry is reserved for Gryffindors.”</p>
<p>Dany sniffed. “I suppose that’s true.” </p>
<p>She dug her scarf out of her bag and wrapped it around her neck as Jon shouldered one of the great oak doors open. A gust of chilly wind hit their faces as they headed down the steps to the sweeping lawns. Jon was shivering by the time they took a seat under the distant willow tree at the lake’s edge, well hidden from any prying eyes in the castle windows behind them.</p>
<p>She didn’t wait for him to start. “What’s your plan of attack then?”</p>
<p>Dany already had her own ideas, but she was determined to make sure that Snow had given their situation thorough consideration without her assistance. This unwanted group project wasn’t going to fall solely on her. They were in this together, afterall. And together to her meant they each pulled their own weight.</p>
<p>“Speak with Professor Tarly today to get more information on what we’re dealing with,” Jon said at once. “Then hope it’s okay to move them and their nest somewhere quieter. Then we move them. Convincing Ghost and Drogon to do it won’t be easy, I’m sure.”</p>
<p>“Then take turns with them,” Dany added, a bit surprised by his forethought, but glad to see this unexpected group nightmare wouldn’t all be on her. “I think that’s best, us not spending too much time together. And it’ll give the owls more time with someone there, too. Just in case something happens.”</p>
<p>“Absolutely. Ghost and Drogon are our main priority.”</p>
<p>He seemed agreeable to all of her suggestions, from researching the time frame of incubation and caring for baby owls, to juggling their course loads with the task. Relief spread through her the longer they talked. Despite his permanent frown, Jon was a nice conversationalist.</p>
<p>“That’ll be the hardest part, I suppose,” he said, as they compared schedules. “A year ago, we’d have completely different schedules, but now…”</p>
<p>Dany nodded. “It’s a bit weird, isn’t it? N.E.W.T. classes with all the houses together. I’m still not used to seeing you and Missandei in Potions.”</p>
<p>“Nice though, besides this. Less people, tougher lessons.” Jon scratched a note onto his schedule labeling Saturday mornings for Quidditch. “When’s your Quidditch practice?”</p>
<p>“Saturday afternoon. Likely to increase with the first match approaching.”</p>
<p>He grimaced. “So basically, we have the exact same schedule minus the time of our Quidditch practices, and the question mark on when we’ll have Prefect duties.”</p>
<p> That part of their plan seemed destined to fail. Fluxxomed, Dany watched Jon toss his last cold piece of toast into the lake. One great tentacle shot up and dragged it down into the dark depths. From the castle’s open front doors, she could just hear the distant babble of conversation in the Great Hall. She wasn’t looking forward to what now seemed inevitable. Spending mid-morning free periods and evenings holed up in some unused classroom turned owlet nursery with Jon Snow would yield all kinds of wild rumors.</p>
<p>They’d been classmates for six years. Quidditch rivals for five, though they didn’t interact directly on the pitch as a Keeper and a Seeker. Her focus was always on the Snitch, not Jon’s goal posts. From what she’d gathered during the last four years of training, however, Dany knew Jon was good. Terrific, truthfully. Hufflepuff had beaten them three years running, and not because she’d missed the Snitch. Jon had blocked so many potential goals that not even her one hundred and fifty points Snitch catch had tipped the scale.</p>
<p>Getting to know each other this way was going to be bizarre indeed.</p>
<p>Jon checked his watch. “Walk with you to Charms?”</p>
<p>Dany considered him carefully before nodding. “Sure.”</p>
<p>It was no good hiding them spending time together. Her housemates would know soon enough, if they didn’t already. Jon, at least, was Hufflepuff’s star on <em> and </em> off the Quidditch pitch. If she had to be seen with any Hufflepuff, he was the one that would give her the least grief.</p>
<p>Students were just beginning to head to their classes as Jon and Dany passed through the entrance hall to the upper floors. At first, they were unnoticed. Everyone was too tired and too busy to pay them any mind. At least until one person saw them and the whispering started. By the time they took their seats in the Charms classroom, whispers were trickling in from all sides. Dany nodded at him and took her usual seat at the front left. Jon took his spot in the second row across the room.</p>
<p>“You and Jon Snow?” Missandei, her best friend, and fellow sixth year glanced back at him as she took her seat next to Dany. “What’s that about?”</p>
<p>Quietly, as the class filled up around them, Dany explained the day before. Missandei gaped at her, Ravenclaw Prefect badge flashing in the morning sunlight from the windows.</p>
<p>“Drogon and… wow, that’s… wow.” Missandei’s hand dug around in her bag without pulling anything out. “And you and him are going to raise them? Together?”</p>
<p>“Well, we’re going to help Drogon and Ghost, I suppose.” Dany sighed as Professor Lannister arrived. “We’re still working it out.”</p>
<p>And she was already exhausted with it.</p>
<p>After that, it was a full day of grueling coursework, practical magic tasks, lengthy essays for homework and extra readings to jot down for the following week. Dany tucked herself into her favorite cozy corner of the library during her free period, making an impressive start on her Charms essay, and a first attempt on her Ancient Runes translations.</p>
<p>By the time the bell rang for dinner she was exhausted as she went to meet Jon out by the lake again. Professor Tarly was always late to dinner on Thursdays. They found him hobbling his way up the sloping lawns from his afternoon lesson, huffing and puffing up misty clouds of breath.</p>
<p>“Your lead, Snow,” Dany told him. “You know him best.”</p>
<p>In truth, Dany had almost never spoken to Professor Tarly. She’d done her O.W.L. under him, but for the two years prior, they’d had another professor for Care of Magical Creatures. Even in her N.E.W.T. level class, she didn’t speak to him. Dany listened, took her notes, and did the required tasks. Jon, however, had some weird camaraderie with the man.</p>
<p>They met him as he huffed his way toward the castle from the edge of the Forbidden Forest, lugging a bulging bag and a cage full of nifflers.</p>
<p>“Professor Tarly!”</p>
<p>Jon waved him over, offering to help him with the cage. Dany watched for a few seconds as the pair used their hands to hoist the cage up, then pulled out her wand. With a quick wave, she had it levitating a few feet above the ground. Professor Tarly gave her a nod of gratitude as Jon took his bag.</p>
<p>“Thank you, Jon—Daenerys. What brings you out here instead of at dinner?”</p>
<p>Professor Tarly’s face was shining with sweat in the late October sunset. At once, Dany could see he was nervous. For some reason, he seemed more terrified of the students than the creatures he looked after.</p>
<p>“We actually had some questions—a predicament our owls have created for us.”</p>
<p>At Professor Tarly’s nod, Jon launched into the story of Ghost and Drogon’s unanticipated romance and subsequent owlets as they headed toward the golden light spilling from the entrance hall. Dany added in a few details as Jon spoke, but overall, his summary was sufficient. </p>
<p>“Moving them is probably for the best,” Professor Tarly said, pausing in the entrance hall. In the Great Hall beyond, the rumble of hundreds of students eating and talking almost overtook his words. Dany directed the cage onto the floor with her wand. “The other owls… some may be understanding, others not. And being that high up, with not but a stone floor twenty feet below…”</p>
<p>“Do you know of any way to get Ghost and Drogon to agree?” Dany asked anxiously. “Or anywhere we could move them?”</p>
<p>“I know where,” Jon said. He glanced at her and shrugged. “Robb had a suggestion at lunch that should work. But <em> how </em>…”</p>
<p>“It’ll take work, but they’re your owls,” Professor Tarly reminded them. “Trust is already built, you just need to convince them to trust you both. I’ve got some books somewhere in my office on the life cycles of owls. Remind me tomorrow after class for them.”</p>
<p>“Thanks, Professor.”</p>
<p>Dany thanked him, too, watching Professor Tarly hobble his way up the grand staircase to the first floor, his wand directing the cage. She turned to Jon once they were alone.</p>
<p>“How’s tonight?”</p>
<p>“T-tonight? I’ve got to get started on my homework, and—”</p>
<p>“As if I don’t, too.” Dany rolled her eyes. “Look, we can study in the Owlery and get to work on Ghost and Drogon, too. We’ve got the exact same assignments. Should make things quicker if we work together. Deal?”</p>
<p>Jon gave her a disgruntled look, but agreed. He headed off to join his friends for dinner, and Dany did the same. Unlike breakfast, she plopped down beside Missandei at the Ravenclaw table. It was her custom to eat at least one meal with the Ravenclaws each day. Far too often, Dany didn’t get along with her own housemates. Eating with Missandei was more relaxing than her fellow Slytherins.</p>
<p>“You look ready to breathe fire,” Missandei told her, piling more steak and kidney pie onto her plate. “Problems with Snow?”</p>
<p>Dany made a noise of disgust, filled her plate and dug in.</p>
<p>“Honestly, it might not be so bad,” Missandei told her, shooting a thoughtful look toward Jon’s curly head at the table behind Dany. “Nice hair, cute enough face, no broken noses from Quidditch. Good with his <em> wand </em>.”</p>
<p>“Oh, don’t start. I’m done with dating until after graduation.”</p>
<p>Missandei ignored her. “I suppose the constant glowering is off-putting, but hey, at least he’s not conceited like Naaharis.”</p>
<p>“Don’t start with <em> him </em>.”</p>
<p>Dany jabbed her fork so fiercely into her dinner that she cracked the plate underneath. Missandei fixed it with a wave of her wand.</p>
<p>“Have you heard from him since the end of last term?”</p>
<p>She had. Daario Naaharis was her first and last boyfriend. He’d sent one letter to her over the summer, waxing poetic about her beauty, begging her to quit school and come join him on the Algerian coast, doing nothing good, she was sure. Instead of graduating in June, he’d skipped out of his N.E.W.T. exams to go on a bender in Hogsmeade. Dany had broken up with him not long after, and her housemates had been even less kind to her since.</p>
<p>“Once,” Dany told Missandei. “That was enough to convince me I was right to dump him.”</p>
<p>“Well, good. He was always too wild and childish if you ask me. You deserve someone kind and honest. Which might be—“</p>
<p>“That is not Snow. Not in the slightest. He’s a goon with a predatory owl. Besides, he’s still dating that one girl. The redhead who graduated.”</p>
<p>Missandei flicked a piece of steak at her. “They broke up at the end of last term. He’s patient enough not to scalp you for shoving him off to the Owlery without any explanation. He’s kind from what I’ve seen during Prefect rounds. He’s great with the first years who need directions or help. He works hard in class and nearly beats <em> us </em> . Sure, he’s nearly as Gryffindor as his cousins, but he’s a lot of Hufflepuff’s good qualities, same as <em> you </em>. Maybe that’s what you need a bit more of instead of your rude housemates.”</p>
<p>Dany didn’t answer. Her whole family had been in Slytherin for almost three centuries, besides a scattered few that were never mentioned. Targaryens were ambitious, or so that was her mother’s claim. And looking at their family history of high-ranking Ministry officials, professors, Healers, even Rhaenyra who had been a Hogwarts headmistress, Dany could understand why. But in recent years, her family’s place in Slytherin had become less about ambition and more about upholding horrible beliefs. </p>
<p>If she hadn’t been sorted there herself six years ago, she didn’t want to imagine her father’s reaction. Rhaegar, her eldest brother, had dared to end up in Ravenclaw, and been shunned ever since. He was over twenty years her senior. If it weren’t for her mother, Dany doubted she would ever have even met Rhaegar. By the time she’d been born, Rhaegar had already been a husband and a father.</p>
<p>“Maybe they’re like that because the other three houses shun them,” Dany countered.</p>
<p>
  <em> And maybe if they tried to be nicer, they could prove Slytherin isn’t the worst of us. </em>
</p>
<p>And they weren’t, really. Ambitious and cunning was true certainly, but Dany was kind and smart and brave, too. Not all of her housemates were smarmy jerks, but even the nicer ones rarely let anyone outside of their common room see that truth. Guarding themselves from the harsh views of the rest was far easier.</p>
<p>Missandei gave her a hard look, but didn’t argue. It was a point they’d talked to death since they’d met on their first train ride to Hogwarts. Dany had come to her aid when a group of second years had been teasing Missandei for her afro. They’d been friends ever since. Despite their sorting, and their housemates trying to force them apart, their friendship had held.</p>
<p>In truth, Missandei was her best, and perhaps only real, friend at Hogwarts. Very few of her housemates were in the market for her friendship—at least if that friendship was with Dany instead of Daenerys Targaryen. With a family name like hers, she attracted a lot of sycophants. </p>
<p>After several slices of pumpkin tart each, Dany and Missandei gathered their books and retreated to the library. Together, they breezed through their Ancient Runes translation, and then, all too soon, Dany was saying a gloomy goodbye as she repacked her bag to meet Jon Snow in the Owlery.</p>
<p>Dany dragged her feet the whole way up there, arriving on time, but late by her standards. She opened the door to the sound of Jon’s exasperated voice.</p>
<p>“Ghost, that’s <em> rude </em>.” </p>
<p>His owl screeched in reply, and nearly scalped Dany as she ducked inside.</p>
<p>“<em> Ghost! </em>”</p>
<p>Dany went for her wand, but there was no need. Jon had caught his owl around the middle and was holding him tight as he screeched and glared at her, wings flapping hard.</p>
<p>“She won’t hurt you or your eggs, Merlin’s <em> beard </em> , you loon.” Jon took a rough beak to the face, but held on. “She’s Drogon’s person, just like I am yours. <em> Trust </em> me.”</p>
<p>Ghost gave a final aggressive shriek, but he did settle, slowly. His scarlet eyes never left her. Jon took a seat on the window sill, stroking his owl’s head and neck, murmuring to him quietly. Dany gave the creature a glare, but it was hard to maintain. They were sweet together, and clearly close. Within minutes, Ghost was cuter than a kitten. He was tucked up under Jon’s chin, rubbing and hooting at him.</p>
<p>“See? Stop being an idiot, neither of us will hurt you or Drogon <em> or </em> the eggs. Give Daenerys a chance.”</p>
<p>Dany snorted and, with a wave of her wand, cleared a space on the floor to sit. Ghost gave her a reproachful look, but he didn’t attack again. Instead, he made his way toward her on his scaly talons. She watched apprehensively, still on her feet, as he waddled across the bone-littered floor. Finally, he stopped a few paces from her.</p>
<p>“Ghost, this is Daenerys. Drogon is her owl.”</p>
<p>He hooted at her, still uncertain. Dany gave Jon an exasperated glance, then remembered why they were here in the first place.</p>
<p>“I’m Dany,” she told the wretched beast. He cocked his head, stretched it toward her, then back. If he weren’t such a menace, he’d almost be cute. “The one you keep trying to murder.”</p>
<p>Jon glowered at her, but Ghost only stared. For a long moment, Dany was certain he would launch himself at her again in another fit of paternal protectiveness. But to her surprise, he moved another foot closer and rubbed his head against her robes.</p>
<p>Flabbergasted by the change, Dany didn’t move.</p>
<p>“He wants you to rub his head,” Jon said, looking like he wanted to laugh. “I told you he’s sweet—when he wants to be.”</p>
<p>Her hand hadn’t even reached him when Ghost shoved his whole head into her palm.</p>
<p>Before she knew it, Dany was seated on the floor, Jon’s owl cuddled up in her lap. Drogon hooted down at them in interest, but she stayed put with their eggs. Jon took a seat across from her and began digging his books and parchment out of his bag.</p>
<p>“I suppose you are rather sweet,” Dany told the owl as Jon set to work. “But if you dive-bomb my head ever again, I’ll kick you.”</p>
<p>“Hoo hoot?”</p>
<p>“Hoo hoot, indeed, I will.”</p>
<p>She looked up and found Jon watching them, in a fond, starry-eyed sort of way.</p>
<p>“What, Snow?”</p>
<p>He blushed and ducked his head. “Nothing. It’s just… nice. Seeing you two getting along finally.”</p>
<p>“Next is your turn with Drogon,” Dany told him. She continued to stroke Ghost’s head. “Which class are you working on?” She asked as he scratched something out for the third time.</p>
<p>“Ancient Runes,” he muttered, glowering at his book. “I can’t ever keep these ruins and their meanings straight. Takes me forever.”</p>
<p>That did surprise her. Jon was a top student, and after herself and Missandei, he was the third best in their class when it came to Ancient Runes.</p>
<p>“Languages aren’t my strong suit,” Jon confessed, striking something out for the fourth time. “Potions is a breeze compared to this.”</p>
<p>“Why take it at N.E.W.T. level if you struggle that much with it?”</p>
<p>“I like it,” Jon admitted. “The difficulty and feeling like I’m really learning something. And besides, I was thinking of being… after Hogwarts, I might…”</p>
<p>“Might what?” His words piqued her interest. Her own future career beyond Hogwarts was stretched in a dozen different directions. Politics was her father’s expectations, going into the Ministry of Magic and effecting policies, upholding his archaic views. Her mother hadn’t said so, but Dany knew she wanted something else for her only daughter. Quidditch perhaps, if she wanted a break from academics. But her heart wasn’t fully in either of those. She hoped to work with dragons, if given the chance, or maybe children instead. Being a professor, here, at Hogwarts someday was a dream that frightened her with how right it felt.</p>
<p>“I was thinking of being a Healer, maybe,” Jon admitted. “Don’t laugh,” he added. “I just… I want to help people. And the Ministry… that’s not my thing, you know. Government offices and bureaucracy and <em> politics. </em> But a Healer… or… or a professor someday maybe. A professor would be grand.”</p>
<p>“A professor?” Dany did laugh a bit at that, imagining both of them back here, ten years from now, arguing and fighting over whose house would win the House Cup while Ghost and Drogon filled the halls with dozens of tiny owls. “I can’t picture you corralling a bunch of first years through making a Forgetfulness Potion.”</p>
<p>“Not Potions,” Jon said. “Defense maybe. Or Transfiguration.”</p>
<p>“Not Ancient Runes?”</p>
<p>Jon snorted. “Only taking that in case I do become a Healer. What did you get for the third line?”</p>
<p>She gave Ghost another pat and eased him off her lap. “Come over here and I’ll check your work.”</p>
<p>Their evening was surprisingly peaceful. Ghost flew back and forth between them and Drogon as they worked. Jon’s Ancient Runes answers weren’t far off, but his tenses were a tangled mess. Transfiguration, however, was a breeze with his help. He talked her through all the complex diagrams, notes, and the entire chapter on human feature transformations. Somehow, hearing it from Jon made far more sense than Professor Baratheon.</p>
<p>“It’s simple once you know the theory,” Jon said, and he aimed his wand at his own eyebrows and changed them into big silvery arches. “See?”</p>
<p>Dany laughed—a true, deep laugh at his new look. “I don’t think you can handle Targaryen hair, Jon Snow.”</p>
<p>“Why not, it matches my name.”</p>
<p>Warmth flared in her cheeks as their eyes met. It was a moment she couldn’t explain, the way his smile lit up and made her stomach leap even as Drogon fluttered down to her side. Drogon gave a soft hoot and edged toward her hip.</p>
<p>“Hi, sweetie, are you giving Ghost his turn up there?”</p>
<p>A quick glance up and away from Jon was a relief. Overhead, Ghost had his head under his wing, his tail tucked over their twiggy little nest.</p>
<p>“That’s good, Drogon. It’s not all your responsibility just because you’re the mama.”</p>
<p>Speaking those words stopped her short. Her sweet owl was going to be a mother, something she’d never considered in their six years together. How many people’s owls ever took that journey? How many people ever found the right person with which to step down that path?</p>
<p>“She’s right,” Jon said, nodding up at Ghost. “You make sure he does his share of the hard stuff, okay?”</p>
<p>Drogon considered him. She hooted in question at Dany, then narrowed her fierce amber eyes at Jon.</p>
<p>“Uh, Jon, maybe you should—”</p>
<p>Too late.</p>
<p>Drogon fluttered away and cuffed Jon on the head with her wing. She landed on his lap and snapped her beak in his face.</p>
<p>“Drogon—”</p>
<p>And Jon, the stupid should-be Gryffindor that he was, offered her owl a steady hand to sniff. To her surprise, Drogon watched him closely for a tremble or any doubt. When Jon showed no signs of flinching, she took a whiff of his hand and then nudged his palm.</p>
<p>Jon grinned and cooed at her. Flabbergasted, Dany watched Drogon soak up the attention.</p>
<p>“Drogon’s not the most friendly to other people,” Dany said, watching the pair. Her heart gave another odd, uncomfortable twang. </p>
<p>“Might be the nesting,” Jon offered as he stroked Drogon’s feathery head and neck. “One of Professor Tarly’s books can probably tell us.”</p>
<p>“I hope so.” Dany reached out to pet her, too. “What do you think of us moving your nest somewhere else, girl? Somewhere quieter and safer, so your babies can hatch there instead.”</p>
<p>Drogon took another hour of petting and talking and praise before she was convinced. Finally, as Jon was putting the finishing touches on his Transfiguration essay, Drogon returned to the top beam with Ghost.</p>
<p>“Let’s save the moving for this weekend,” she suggested. “You’re still free on Sunday?”</p>
<p>“Yes.” Jon stretched his arms, his uniform lifting just enough for her to see his muscular abdomen. “I’ll show you where. It’s this room Robb and I found a few years ago, up on the seventh floor. Becomes whatever you need it to be. I’d forgotten all about it until I was telling Robb about them.” He nodded at their owls cuddled up overhead. “Bet it’ll give us a perfect owlet nursery.”</p>
<p>She could only hope. All of her location ideas were deserted classrooms or dungeons. Every place had the question mark of whether or not Peeves the Poltergeist would disrupt their owls.</p>
<p>“Can Peeves get in?”</p>
<p>“Not that we’ve ever noticed,” Jon told her. “But we could request that we ban him when we create the room.”</p>
<p>“<em> Create </em> the room?”</p>
<p>Jon rolled up his essay and tossed his things into his bag. “You’ll see. It’s <em> great. </em> Promise. Um, maybe, Friday during our free period?”</p>
<p>“Okay, if you tell me one thing.”</p>
<p>Jon gave her a curious look, and then spoke at the exact same time as her.</p>
<p>“How to get into the kitchens,” they said together.</p>
<p>He grinned. “Room of Requirement first, then dinner, and <em> then </em>the kitchens. They won’t thank you if you show up when they’re in the middle of the dinner rush.”</p>
<p>Dany’s temper flared at once. “They shouldn’t be forced to make us dinner at <em> all </em>, Snow. At least not without being paid for their labor. They have just as many rights as you or I do.”</p>
<p>Jon nodded. “True, but convincing them of that is another matter. My mum’s been trying to for years. The house elves at Hogwarts are happy at least. It’s not perfect,” he added when he saw her expression, “but it’s better than most. A few of them were freed by their old families, one even gets paid weekly. Headmistress Tyrell treats them well.”</p>
<p>“Yes, but—”</p>
<p>“If you take their work away, they’ll be lost. I’ve seen it happen,” Jon said. “Doesn’t mean I support them being enslaved, but you can’t just barrel in and rip up their lives without a plan. They don’t know anything else. Most don’t want to either. My mum took in our Howland after he was freed, and he was a wreck for months. Didn’t want to do anything but what he’d already been doing. She’s taught him a lot and gotten him to accept days off and to let her do certain tasks, but he still won’t take any pay. Mum gets him to talk about things he’d like or needs or wants, and she uses the money she’d pay him with to get him that stuff instead. They don’t understand that their state of existence is bad. He’s glad to be free now, mostly, but I think he loves working for us more.”</p>
<p>Dany frowned. She knew it was complicated. House elves had been enslaved by humans for so long that their very culture had been extinguished and replaced with what she could only call brainwashing. They taught their children to tend to humans. To cook and clean and go unnoticed, to be meek and subservient. If some of their children were given a better childhood, education and opportunities…</p>
<p>“I’ll figure it out once I get to speak with them,” Dany decided. “It’s wrong, for us to have so much while they’re enslaved for our benefit. Making excuses for why it’s like that just prolongs it.”</p>
<p>Jon huffed, but it was a sweet sound almost like a laugh. “You sound like my mother. She’s always fighting for one cause or another. I bet she’d love to have you over to meet Howland. Or his kids, they’re both free, too, and much better at it than him. She used to homeschool all three of us together, for maths and writing and science. They could be a good place to start on your liberation ideas.”</p>
<p>“Sounds like my kind of woman, your mother,” Dany said as they shouldered their bags and said goodbye to their owls.</p>
<p>“Bit too old for you, I think,” Jon countered. </p>
<p>A small smile tugged at her lips as the Owlery door squeaked shut behind them. Jon was grinning, too, perhaps flushed from their success with their owls, or just glad to be out of the cramped, drafty tower. Dany couldn’t say which, but she couldn’t take her eyes off his smile either.</p>
<p>“What? Don’t tell me I’ve got owl droppings on my face.”</p>
<p>“No, nothing.” She ducked her head as Jon rubbed his cheeks to clean them. “I’ll see you tomorrow at break?”</p>
<p>He nodded. “And in classes, no doubt.”</p>
<p>“Right, yes, there, too.”</p>
<p>It was an awkward moment, standing there in the empty corridor trying to figure out how to say goodbye to one another. </p>
<p>Were they friends now?</p>
<p>Dany couldn’t decide. They were certainly about to have grandowls together, and that meant they had to be more than simply classmates or acquaintances. And Jon’s views of elf rights seemed in line with her own for the most part. His mother certainly seemed to be a decent person that was raising her son to follow her ideas.</p>
<p>“Well, see you.”</p>
<p>Jon gave her a nod as they both turned to go—</p>
<p>In the same direction. Her elbow knocked him in the ribs as they both turned down the same narrow staircase that was a shortcut to the ground floor. Jon’s bag got caught on her arm, Dany’s book tipped out of her hands, and they stumbled together, coming to a stop with Jon backed up to the stone wall, and Dany using his solid body to find her balance.</p>
<p>“Sorry—”</p>
<p>“Didn’t mean to—”</p>
<p>Her greatest mistake was looking up into his eyes. They were a clear pewter, rich and warm and far too gentle for the boy who owned such a reckless owl. Jon swallowed as her book tumbled further down the stairs, making its noisy descent until it burst through the tapestry hiding the stairs at the bottom.</p>
<p>“Well, uh, ladies first.”</p>
<p>Something in his eyes said otherwise, begged her to stay put, but Dany pushed away. A fearful adrenaline was coursing through her at the way her heart pattered a delighted tango in her chest. What was wrong with her?</p>
<p><em> Missandei, </em> she thought wildly. <em> She kept talking about it, so now I’m seeing it and it’s not real. Of course it isn’t.  </em></p>
<p>Jon cleared his throat awkwardly. “Or I could go first, that’s fine, too.”</p>
<p>“Huh? Oh.” Dany stepped down a few steps, still keeping her gaze fixed on him. “I thought gallant chivalry wasn’t your thing?”</p>
<p>He tried for a smile that was more awkward than their silence. “I come from a long line of Gryffindors. Bound to slip up every now and again.”</p>
<p>“Yes, well, watch your clumsy, big feet next time.”</p>
<p>Jon scowled at her. “My feet? You’re the one who—”</p>
<p>Someone cleared their throat from the bottom of the narrow staircase. A moment later, Professor Lannister came into sight, her book in hand.</p>
<p>“Ah, my favorite terrors, Mr. Snow and Miss Targaryen,” Profess Lannister said, grinning at them with his mismatched eyes. “Tossing defenseless books down staircases for the sake of fits of passion.”</p>
<p>Dany’s face heated up, but she held his gaze defiantly. “I <em> tripped </em> over Snow’s big, dumb feet.”</p>
<p>“Hmm.” He gave them both a look as if he didn’t believe a single syllable of what she’d said. “Well, do be more careful, Miss Targaryen. And you, Mr. Snow. We can’t have Prefects wandering the corridors for late night scandalous affairs. What would the school think?”</p>
<p>“Same as they always do, I’m sure,” Jon muttered. He readjusted the strap on his bag as Professor Lannister handed Dany her book back. “I should get going then.”</p>
<p>He was gone with a quick wave of his hand, stampeding down the stairs and out of sight. Dany made to follow, but Professor Lannister caught her arm.</p>
<p>“Professor Tarly tells me you two are embarking on an <em> interesting </em> project.” Her head of house gave her a long look. “Be mindful, Daenerys. Jon’s a good lad, but I can’t have Slytherin’s top student falling by the wayside again.”</p>
<p>Some of the heat returned to her face at the reprimand. “I won’t, Professor.”</p>
<p>He bid her goodnight, and Dany set off down the stairs, going slow in case Jon had taken his time along the same exact path. She wouldn’t be distracted. Not like last year. Daario had been an endless distraction, one that had almost cost her top grades on her exams. No boy was going to get to her again. Especially not the likes of Jon Snow.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I may try to make a habit of Tuesday updates as I settle back into a writing groove. Also, I'm thinking 6 or 7 chapters for this story. Like I said previously, it's going to be short compared to my other works. Just a fun and fluffy and sweet little story before I start the next big one (which is going rather well, considering).</p>
<p>So until (hopefully) next Tuesday! That'll be a Jon POV again. Cheers!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A slightly early update! Well, sort of early. It's still Monday here for me, though I'm sure it's Tuesday already for many of you.</p>
<p>And I have a lovely beautiful moodboard thanks to aliciutza for making it, and thanks to waking-dreams-of-harmony for letting us use the Dany and Jon as Slytherin and Hufflepuff students edits! :D</p>
<p>Enjoy the update!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <span>
      
    </span>
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t sleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon tossed and turned until dawn, thinking over his evening with Daenerys—Dany she’d called herself—and how it had ended. Distractions were the last thing he wanted in his sixth year. They had owlets on the way, the Quidditch season on the horizon, and their first year of N.E.W.T. level courses to struggle through. Now more than ever, his focus was essential. But somehow, Dany—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daenerys</span>
  </em>
  <span>—had become the center of his daydreams in less than two days.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The way she’d smiled as she cuddled Ghost; the brilliant shine of her violet eyes as she’d explained her tricks for memorizing different ruins for translations; the way she’d felt pressed against him for only a few moments in that stairwell. He’d found it near impossible not to watch her throughout the evening, to try for another hard won laugh or smile as he’d walked her through Professor Baratheon’s latest Transfiguration lecture. Professor Baratheon was a stern, severe sort of man, who spoke in clipped tones and never repeated himself. He accepted only the very best students into his N.E.W.T. level class. Jon wasn’t sure how he’d gotten into Stannis Baratheon’s good graces, but the man had decided he liked him. It made questions and after class meetings much easier to endure. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Across the dormitory, Edd’s alarm went off to start the day. Jon groaned and dragged his pillow over his face. A long Friday was spread out before him with no sleep in sight. He was going to be a wreck by the time he met with Dany—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daenerys—</span>
  </em>
  <span>that afternoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut it off, for fuck’s sake,” Grenn shouted. A pillow’s shadow went sailing past Jon’s closed bed hangings. “Why do you set it for six?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pyp grumbled his agreement. “We end up dragging you out of bed after we’re all up anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Edd gave a sleepy grunt and slept on. After another few minutes of Grenn and Pyp raging and shouting and tossing everything from pillows to quills at Edd’s snoring face, Jon got out of his bed and shut Edd’s alarm off. Then he whacked Edd in the neck. Their deep sleeper friend jolted upright, yelping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Up, you ass,” Jon told him. “Your alarm could wake the whole castle and you’d still be snoring.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wassat?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon ducked into the bathroom as Pyp and Grenn took running leaps and tackled Edd in his bed. By the time they made it down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Edd was his usual dour self and Jon had a roaring headache. His eyes itched for sleep. Every light was too bright, the enchanted ceiling flooding the hall with dazzling sunlight. They took their usual seats along the Hufflepuff table, piling food up onto their plates. But Jon stilled as he went to start on his tomatoes. Just looking at the sparkling golden plates stacked with steaming, delicious food made him think of Dany.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Daenerys, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he scolded himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck’s sake call her by her name.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she’d called herself Dany, hadn’t she? That was the name she’d introduced herself to Ghost as. Should he call her that, too?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon shook his ridiculous questions off. He stared at his plate, thinking of the bustling house elves in the kitchens down below. Then he tapped his plate, and said, “Any chance of some coffee, please?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pyp and Grenn stared at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s talking to the dishes again,” Grenn said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“People are gonna think we’re with him,” Pyp muttered, elbowing Edd. “Slide down, would you? Jon’s doing it again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His cup, however, was now filled with fresh roasted coffee. Jon sighed in relief and downed it in three gulps. He ignored his friends as they continued to bicker, and barely heard half of what his cousin Arya was saying when she flounced over and took a seat beside him. She was a first year, in Gryffindor like nearly every Stark before them, but lately—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s a mutant, a true toadstool,” she continued, red in the face and fuming. “Can’t you just… just, curse his knees off or-or—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not cursing anyone’s knees off for you,” Jon told her. “Sounds like you’re as rude to him as he is to you. I ought to take points off Gryffindor for both of you being awful.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>not!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon snorted, and earned himself a slap to the ear. He grunted. Both Pyp and Green protested Arya hitting him, so much so that Jon started laughing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I ought to take ten points for hitting your favorite cousin,” Jon told her. Then he rounded on his friends. “And you two are idiots, defending me one second, wanting to get ten feet away the next.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We didn’t—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You were talking to your plate—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“—</span>
  <em>
    <span>again!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arya glowered at all of them, flicked Jon’s ear, and stood up. “Fine, I’ll get </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sansa</span>
  </em>
  <span> to curse Gendry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She won’t do it either!” Jon shouted after her. His head throbbed with each word, and when he reached for his cup, coffee was steaming in it once more. “Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pyp elbowed Grenn. “He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>talking</span>
  </em>
  <span> to his—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We already know!” Grenn shoved Pyp and sent him tumbling off the bench to the floor. </span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His day was half-phantom, half-disaster. Jon fell asleep in Professor Lannister’s Charms class, and earned himself detention and extra homework for his subpar spellcasting. Potions was just as bad. He got drowsy from the fumes emitting from his cauldron, and dumped his whole supply of pickled rat brains in instead of just the one. Class ended with his cauldron in a sorry state and his eyebrows singed. Normally, his afternoon would have been free. Instead, he had a quick meeting with Professor Arryn, his head of house, about the rest of term’s Quidditch practice schedule. By the time they were finished, he had to hurry off to meet Daenerys.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was already waiting for him when he came hurtling around the corner to the seventh floor. Daenerys watched him, nonplussed, as he skidded the last few feet to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“S-sorry,” he panted, doubled over as he tried to both catch his breath and not pass out from exhaustion. “Had a-a Quidditch…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Remember how to breath normally, then speak,” Dany—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daenerys—</span>
  </em>
  <span>suggested. “There’s no rush, right? Dinner doesn’t start for another hour.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded once, then stopped because it made him dizzy. He took a seat with his back against the blank stone wall and shut his eyes. A moment later, he felt Daenerys’s robes swish next to him as she did the same. When she took his hand, Jon almost jumped out of his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you all right? All day, you’ve been making quite an ass of yourself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He could almost hear her eye roll.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Professor Lannister looked ready to stick a firecracker in your mouth,” Daenerys continued. “And since when do you almost blow up your cauldron in Potions?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon shook his head, eyes still shut. “Didn’t sleep last night, that’s all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daenerys made a noise of understanding and began to rummage in her bag for something. When Jon opened his eyes, it was to her pulling a small vial out of her bag.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here, this’ll perk up you for a while.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon examined the crystal vial’s contents. They were a clear blue like a robust summer sky and quite gelatinous.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wideye Potion?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Half-strength brew,” Daenerys explained. “I have trouble sleeping, too, so I keep some handy for those days.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cheers then.” He pulled the stopper and downed the whole vial. At once, it felt like warm bees were buzzing through his chest, sliding down his arms and legs and up to his head. Jon gave himself a quick shake and smiled. “Thanks, that’s so much better.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He climbed back to his feet and offered Daenerys his hand. Once they were both standing, Jon nodded at the blank expanse of wall. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is the spot where the door will appear, we’ve just got to pace past it three times, thinking hard about what sort of room we need to appear.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right.” Her beautiful face pinched as she focused. “We need a nursery, places for us to study while we’re with them… oh, a bathroom for us! Will it give us books on owls? Or for our studies?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon gazed at her in wonder. “No idea, we only used it for stupid things. Pranks and hiding stuff, and a swimming pool once.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, let’s find out then.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daenerys started down the corridor, her face scrunched up as she concentrated. Jon walked with her, thinking hard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>We need an owlet nursery. One with places for us to live and study and be comfortable.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They paced past the blank stone wall three times. When they made their final turn, it was to find a magnificent dark oak door had appeared. Jon was unfazed, having seen it a dozen times before, but Daenerys’s mouth fell open. She beamed at it, and hurried to open the door. Inside, they found a room far better than Jon could have imagined. No doubt, it had built itself around what Daenerys had imagined instead of his own vague thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>High-arched windows lined every wall. One was missing a large glass panel at the top through which their owls could come and go as needed. Several bookshelves were pushed against the left wall, along with a series of perches and a good sized nest that far exceeded the one Ghost and Drogon had wedged into their tight corner of the rafters. A small glass cabinet sat beside it, full of what looked like dishes and vials. Dany rushed ahead of him, laughing and smiling at the sectional couch, the pair of study desks, the extra quills and parchment and owl treats…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon pulled a book at random from one of the shelves and read the title out loud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>A Beginner’s Guide to Owl Rearing: The Hoots and Don’ts of Owlets.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daenerys</span>
  </em>
  <span>—turned to him in disbelief. “It is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> called that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He showed her the glossy blue cover, trying to will his stomach to stop leaping as if it were laughing with her. When she flipped to the index, her face split into a wide smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s perfect. Incubation periods, egg hatching, signs of distress to look for before and after, molting…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daenerys put the book back and took another lap around the room. “This is… it’s wonderful, Jon. Really. Drogon and Ghost will love it here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And it’s good enough for us, too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She tossed her bag onto the couch and took a seat to test it out. “Mmm, yes, very comfortable. I wish we had something like this in our common room. Everything’s leather and stiff.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon took a seat, too, and had to agree. He sunk right into it as if he were sitting on cotton candy. It was just as comfortable as the ones in the Hufflepuff common room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is nice,” Jon said, shutting his eyes. “Wish we could have dinner here, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A second later, Dany gave a gasp and tapped his arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not right.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He opened his eyes and saw a platter of steaming pork chops, roasted potatoes, and vegetables waiting for them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry,” Jon said guilty. “I didn’t mean to make more work for them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany shook her head. “If it </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> them,” she said, considering the silver platter. It was very different from the dishes and cutlery in the Great Hall. “Maybe the magic of this room stole it from the kitchens. Could it do that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dunno.” Jon grabbed one of the two plates and piled pork chops and vegetables onto it. He moaned around his first bite. “Just as good as what’s downstairs. Mmm.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They both ate their fill, chattering away about Potions and Quidditch, today’s Charms lesson that Jon had slept through.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a complex charm,” Dany was telling him as their platter refilled, only this time it was apple pie. “You can read through my notes, if you want. Once you understand it, the spell is quite simple to learn.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded along, trying not to stare and blush, but it wasn’t easy. The more he got to know her, the harder it was to not let his heart do somersaults.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s very kind,” he said at her offer. “I suppose not all Slytherins are selfish.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d said the wrong thing, despite meaning it as a joke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Slytherins </span>
  <em>
    <span>aren’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> selfish,” she snapped, her temper flaring up at once. “Self preservation isn’t necessarily selfish. People would be dead a lot sooner without that instinct.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t mean it like that,” Jon said. He flushed as she eyed him critically. “I was joking. You’re not selfish, Dany—</span>
  <em>
    <span>Daenerys.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And how would you know that?” Her violet eyes continued to scrutinize him, better guarded than Azkaban.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, well…” Jon held her gaze, his heart thumping up his throat into his ears. “Maybe we’ve only really gotten to know each other for a few days, but I can’t imagine a selfish person pursuing house elf liberation, or expecting to share the burden Ghost and Drogon have created for us. A selfish person would have refused to help and left it all on me. And Ghost… he can be standoffish to people he doesn’t know. The way he cuddled up to you is proof enough for me, Daenerys.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn’t answer at once. The tightness in her expression evaporated at his words, and for a second, Daenerys almost smiled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dany is fine,” she told him. “Most of my friends and family call me Dany.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Did that make them friends?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hated how much he hoped the answer was yes. Yet, he dreaded that being the answer, too. Jon tried not to scowl as he shoved his fluttering heart back down into his chest. This was stupid. Dany wasn’t interested in him. If anything, she wanted to scalp him for what Ghost and Drogon had done. But date him?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon shook his head to clear the thoughts away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’d noticed, frowning at him in what seemed to be genuine concern.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing. Headache starting. Maybe the potion’s wearing off.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, well, we can stay here for a bit, if you want to nap,” she said, and the consideration both surprised him and didn’t. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For years now, he’d expected she was like a lot of her housemates. Indifferent and aloof, generally not so empathetic, or perhaps he’d simply been judging on what he’d hoped to find. Most of the Slytherins that did interact with him, were with the ill-intent to bully or tease him. Two days had shown him Dany was different. Perhaps all the other Slytherins he’d never spoken to were, too. Dany was kind and gentle, her temper a bit fiery, but certainly no worse than his own. In some ways, it was hard to understand how she’d ended up in Slytherin with what he’d seen of her so far.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Ambition maybe, or resourcefulness? </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon wasn’t sure it mattered, how the Sorting hat decided where each person went. Afterall, hadn’t he begged the Sorting hat for Gryffindor, only to end up where he’d truly needed to be instead?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her hand caught his again. Dany’s violet eyes were bright with concern.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry. Yeah, a nap, that’s fine. I could just tell you how to get to the kitchens, if you don’t want to wait for me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Part of him hoped she’d rush off to visit the house elves. But when she shook her head firmly, he was relieved.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And leave you here to pass out and who knows what? I don’t think so, Snow.” She set her bag on the little table and began pulling out books and parchment. “I’ll work while you sleep. Deal?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only if you call me Jon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fair enough, Jon Snow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon curled up at the other end of the couch, and he drifted off for a bit. Or at least, he thought he did. Daenerys wove in and out of his strange dreams, but she was right there, too, whenever he opened his eyes. For a few minutes, he simply watched her, hunched over her books, tongue poking out, her braid coming loose as she shook her head and scratched out something with her quill.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>At least Mum will like her, if we… if I ask…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t allow himself to finish that thought. Nor the odd dreams of strolling through Hogsmeade together, having a Butterbeer chugging contest where she beat him easily, sitting together as four little owlets hopped around the room and tested their tiny wings…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon swallowed and sat up, rubbing his eyes to avoid staring at her. Still, he heard Dany shut her book; the sharp scrape of her desk chair sliding over the stone floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ready then?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He met her bright eyes and nodded. Holding her gaze was hard, knowing the things he kept picturing. The dates and laughs and cuddles, here in this very room, on this very couch.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, let’s go visit some house elves.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>October faded imperceptibly into November. For Jon, that rarely meant any change to his own schedule, although it did mean the official start of the Quidditch season at Hogwarts. While his own first match wasn’t until December, Gryffindor and Slytherin started the season. He’d never followed that match closely beside the points and to cheer Robb on. But this year, for the first time, he was interested. The more he got to know Dany, the more invested he became in supporting her. Dany’s schedule changed dramatically as the mid-November match approached, going from multiple free evenings, to only one. Still, she was always there in their new owl nursery at nine o’clock afterward, sometimes splattered in mud, other times red in the face from the wind as she joined him in their owl watching.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost and Drogon had moved without complaint a fortnight ago. They seemed to be enjoying the peace and solitude of the private room, but moreso the human company of Jon and Dany every night. With no idea when the eggs might hatch since they didn’t know when Drogon had laid them, they were doing their best to be there around the clock. Jon had even slept on the plushy couch a few nights, just in case.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Friday evening before Dany’s first match, Jon was on his own with them. He ate a quick dinner, hustled upstairs to check on their owls, and found, to his great surprise, that Ghost was in a wild state of distress. Drogon was sitting upon their clutch, as stalwart as ever, but she kept clicking her beak in confusion. When she finally moved off the nest during one of those moments, Jon saw a little crack had formed in one of the eggs. It rocked slightly as he watched.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost hooted and hopped around the ceiling, from perch to perch and then back to Drogon as she settled once more on the eggs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon grinned. “Won’t be long now, you two,” he told them, stroking their heads. “You ready for four shrieking babies?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His owl looked positively thrilled at the prospect, shivering in delight as Drogon hooted sleepily. He checked his watch, and decided to go catch Dany on her way up from practice. It ought to be finished by now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon made his way downstairs and across the darkening grounds. He passed the rest of the Slytherin team, making their way up the lawns, tired from practice, but not too tired to toss him insults and catcall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, look, it’s Targaryen’s new booty call!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon shouldered past Orell without a word. He was Slytherin’s Keeper, a stringy boy of fifteen who’d been on Jon’s case ever since their first match together. Why the Slytherins kept him on, Jon still didn’t understand. Orell saved two goals a game if he were lucky.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You that desperate, Snow, that you want her smelling like an unwashed sock?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That did make Jon pause and turn, his own retort already prepared. “Better than the crusty unwashed socks littering the space around your bed, Orell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy’s face purpled at the implication, but before Orell could reply, Jon had turned back to the pitch, passing through the changing rooms to the field beyond. Dany was still in the air, a greenish blur that was hard to make out against the setting sun. He watched her fly, the smooth twists and dives and turns. Flying seemed to be like breathing to her. It was as if she’d never done anything else, had always been high in the sky and had no need of anything else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And worse, it made his heart patter faster again. For the two weeks they’d spent together, Jon had learned quickly to focus on anything else but the beautiful young woman besides him. It seemed to give him a dazed look when he turned his mind toward something mundane like buying a new quill or which house would hold the Stark family Christmas that year. Dany had noticed, though she’d stopped asking him if he was okay. Perhaps, she’d realized his crush and didn’t want to speak on it either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet, watching Dany fly…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His heart longed to soar right up there beside her. To weave around one another, to laugh and chase and eventually stop beside each other, leaning their heads in—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Stop it, you ass</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, as the sun dipped out of sight, Dany dived for the ground, landing beside him. She looked surprised to see him, waving the Snitch fluttering in her hand in greeting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s happened?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re starting to hatch,” Jon said. “Just the one, but I’m sure the others aren’t far behind. Figured I’d come tell you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And Ghost and Drogon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She seems a bit confused, but she’d never had owlets before, has she?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As for Ghost… well, his owl was losing his damn mind, but Jon figured that was better left quiet until Dany could see him hopping all over the room for herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, let me change and we can go stay with them. I’ve got my first match in the morning, but…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll stay with them overnight,” he assured her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They headed into the changing room, Jon’s mind on their owls back up at the castle. It took him a few moments to realize Dany had pulled off her Quidditch robes without a thought to his presence. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dany, I’m still—sorry, sorry! I’ll go!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon covered his eyes, his face burning, but all she did was laugh. Somehow, her unconcerned laughter made him feel worse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? I’ve got a bra on still, and trousers,” Dany’s voice told him as she shuffled around beside him. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen women in bikinis at the beach.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, I have, but you aren’t…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m more covered than any of them.” And she reached over and yanked his hands away from his eyes. “Stop being a first year, would you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right. Sure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Jon looked up, she was still standing there, her Quidditch robes on the bench, her torso naked except for a sports bra. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. The soft curves of her body, her toned stomach, even the sweaty stains that outlined her breasts. Dany gave him a wicked smile, not the least bit embarrassed. Even her windswept braid, all frazzled as it came loose made his body pulse like it never had before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something on your mind there, Jon Snow?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was mocking him, teasing and taunting, but not in a flirty way he was sure. Dany said it in a way that clearly told him, she expected him to stammer and blush and go find somewhere to hide. Right then, he’d never felt less timid in his life, not in the face of her own confidence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seeing more of you half-dressed, if I’m being quite honest.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her grin faltered, a slight tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only if you’re willing, of course,” Jon added, some of his boldness fading as she flushed. “Might be best to focus on Drogon and Ghost instead.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“R-right, yes.” She pulled her school robes on, and tried to fix her braid. After a few moments, she gave up and began to unwind it. “Besides, it wouldn’t be fair if I was the only shirtless one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And let those baby owls pee all over us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany laughed at his weak joke, and some of the awkwardness faded between them. For now anyway. Jon knew it would be back soon enough. The unnamed tension between them was rarely gone for long. Every night it made an appearance, and each time it felt closer to snapping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They returned to the castle and headed upstairs to the Room of Requirement. Ghost’s exciting screeches greeted them as soon as they walked into the room. Dany gave him an exasperated look as she hurried over to Drogon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why did you pick such a loud boy, Drogon?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon watched her coo and pet Drogon, checking on her and then the eggs underneath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just the one crack still,” she said as they both settled on the couch. “Shall we start with Charms tonight?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon agreed, and they set to work, spreading their books and parchment around the table, but it was no good. Ghost was a constant distraction, and Drogon’s confused hoots stopped them every so often, too. Their elbows kept bumping where they sat side-by-side on the couch, and while it would have been easy for one of them to simply slide over, neither of them did. Jon found himself staring at Dany instead of his notes. It was only when she bopped him on the nose with her inky quill that he stopped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t concentrate either?” she asked, as Ghost gave another screech and took a lap around the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.” Though it wasn’t really Ghost pulling his focus. Jon swallowed as her knee bumped his. “I say we give this up as a bad job for the night.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany nodded. “I’d rather focus on Drogon, and then with my first match tomorrow…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll be great,” Jon said. “You’ve never missed before.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Never beat you Hufflepuffs either,” she countered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good thing you’re playing my cousin then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She smiled at that. “It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> the most looked forward to match of the year, Slytherin and Gryffindor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll spank the pants off them, I’m sure,” Jon said. “Robb had to find all new chasers this year, and they’re… well, they’ll get better with time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, careful with that insider information, Jon,” she teased. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon snorted. “You’ll still lose to my team, so I’m hardly worried.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We will not,” Dany said hotly. She glared at him and pushed at his knee playfully. Her eyes were fiery, but her lips quivered as she fought down a smile. “This is the year, Jon Snow. Hufflepuff is going down.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nope, Hufflepuff’s going to be four-time winners of the Quidditch Cup. Next year will be five.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Absolutely not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s true. You can’t ever beat us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will so—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon wasn’t sure how it happened, who moved first. One second they were sitting there on the couch, joking and teasing and trying not to smile and laugh, and the next his lips were on Dany’s, her hand wound into his curls. She sighed against his lips, smiled as he pressed eagerly forward for more. His head swam at the heat between them, the way her fingers threaded through his hair and stroked his scalp. He was just reaching for her waist to pull her closer, when Ghost started another round of excited screeching and cuffed them both on their heads with his wing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ow, Ghost!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany winced and rubbed her ear as Ghost soared back to Drogon. As they watched, Drogon clicked her beak angrily at Ghost, then did a weird sidestep back and forth over the eggs. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And just like that, the moment was lost. Dany pulled away, her face flushed and lips shining with spit. Jon cleared his throat and tried to will his sudden hard-on away. Neither of them said anything. Even trying to speak, to mention the kiss they’d just shared, made Jon’s brain clog like a backed up drain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon gave a series of alarmed hoots as she did another dance over the nest. Dany hurried over to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shh, it’s okay, sweetie, they’re just moving so they can get out of their eggs, that’s all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost came over to Jon for pets while Dany calmed Drogon. It took a while. Jon stayed put, too embarrassed and confused to address Dany. Had he leaned in first? Had she?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Every moment of their kiss was a muddled delight. And she’d kissed him back, hadn’t she? Or had he kissed her back?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He almost groaned aloud, but stopped as Dany reclaimed her seat next to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think I’ll stay here tonight, with her,” Daenerys told him, avoiding his gaze. “She’s getting nervous. I should be here with her to make sure she’s okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded as Ghost head-butted his chin. “I’m sure the room would provide a bed, if you request it. I mean, just for one. For you to sleep in. Alone. Not to—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stopped, his throat tight and face boiling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany shook her hair out of her face. It made a beautiful shining sheet of wavy silver when down. Jon longed to run his fingers through it, but resisted the urge. Things were awkward enough. “It was just a kiss, Jon. It doesn’t have to be anything. Or mean anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right. Sure. Just a kiss between friends. Because we aren’t, I mean, we couldn’t…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly. Bound to happen, locked up together with these two silly romantics.” She reached over and stroked Ghost’s pale wing. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded. Twenty minutes ago, he had been thrilled to stay here all night, to sit up and wait for their little owlets to hatch, but after that kiss and the stuffy discomfort brewing, he was glad to go.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost, however, was not pleased. His excited screeching and laps around the room turned swiftly to rage. He bit Jon on the ear when he stood to go, then grabbed his bag and flew it up onto the highest perch and out of reach.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ghost, dammit. Don’t be a brat.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Ghost wasn’t listening. He gave one final defiant shriek and turned his tail to Jon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think he wants you here, too,” Dany said quietly. “Or I can magick your bag back down here—</span>
  <em>
    <span>hey!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost had dived toward her, screeching once more, but he wasn’t aiming for her. He grabbed Dany’s full bag and carried it off, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And no matter how they yelled at him, Ghost refused to listen. Red-faced Dany took her seat on the couch, arms and legs crossed. Jon glared at his owl.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can leave without my bag, you know,” he told him. “Keep my damn wand. I don’t need it to get into the common room.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which was true enough, but the thought of being without his wand was unsettling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Look, just stay then. There’s plenty of space for both of us,” Dany said. “And if you’re here, I won’t start throwing everything in sight at him. Drogon, your choice in boys is </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon gave a sleepy hoot as Ghost hopped down to their nest to nuzzle her. They were ridiculously cute. Even angry, Jon couldn’t deny how loving they were together. He took his seat on the couch besides Dany, thinking hard on a safe topic of conversation that would steer them clear away from their kiss.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, he found one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You never said what you wanted to do after Hogwarts, when I told you about my dreams.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany startled a bit, but she relaxed into the couch next to him, her eyes fixed on their owls.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose it depends on who you ask.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon laughed in disbelief. “Come off it, it’s your future. Who else is there to ask but you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My family,” she said, and for the first time since their owlet crisis had begun, her voice had gone soft, uncertain, almost timid. “They have a lot of expectations for me. A lot I’m expected to live up to after Hogwarts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that was hard to fathom for Jon. Sure, he was expected to do well in school and to be a decent person, but that was just the basics of life really. His mother had never pushed him into any hobby or interest or potential career. That was his life, she’d always said. His choices to make and his days to live.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s yours to decide,” Jon said, and he reached for her hand, despite his misgivings after their kiss. “Your life, not theirs. Do whatever makes you happy, whatever excites you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My father would have hippogriffs if I pursued elf rights as a politician,” Dany told him, but she was frowning, considering. “Or if I went off to work with dragons, they’d say I was wasting my talents on nonsense. Or foolish dreams that don’t mean anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not foolish if it makes you happy. What’s the point of living a life if you’re only living it as everyone else wants you to? That’s what’s foolish.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn’t say anything for a long time. Jon settled into the couch, taking his shoes off and propping his legs up on the table. Finally, Dany gave a brief nod of acknowledgement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you’re right, I keep telling myself to just live my life for me,” she said. “But losing my family over it… my oldest brother ended up in Ravenclaw, you know. He’s never mentioned at home. Father’s all but banished him from our lives. Mother takes me to see him every few years in secret. He’s got children my father hasn’t even met.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All of that over a house?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She nodded once more. “And what he chose to do after school. He was always the scholarly sort, I guess. He teaches at another wizarding school down in Spain.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t imagine it, although he’d feared something similar, foolishly perhaps, as only a young boy could have. When he’d arrived at Hogwarts six years ago, Robb had been so thrilled to have him there. Another Stark at Hogwarts, he’d said. They were only a few months apart, but on opposite sides of the age cut off that divided their years. Robb had been a second year, taking a seat right at the end of the Gryffindor table, beaming as he waited for Jon to get sorted and take the spot beside him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It hadn’t happened of course. Jon had pleaded and begged the Sorting Hat for his family’s house, and in the end, he’d been made a Hufflepuff. Robb’s horrified face had haunted him all night, but not near as much as sending his first letter home with Ghost the next morning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that why you’re in Slytherin, then? Because of them?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her head whipped around sharply, her eyes surprised and guarded. Jon could tell he was right even when she denied it. Dany could be like a brick wall sometimes, guarding her fears or secrets, while other things were wide open to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My family’s been in Slytherin for centuries, Jon Snow. It’s part of our heritage.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And mine’s been in Gryffindor just as long, didn’t stop the Hat from ignoring me and putting me elsewhere.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ignore—it talked to you, too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His heart leapt at her words. He’d never known anyone else who’d spoken to the Sorting Hat when they’d arrived at Hogwarts. Jon hadn’t told anyone about it, not for months. Once he’d arrived home for the Christmas holidays, his mother had gotten it out of him. He’d been so skittish around the Starks that year. Fearful of rejection or disappointment at not getting to share another thing with them. But his mother hadn’t seemed surprised.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I always thought you’d go somewhere else,” she’d told him, smiling. “And it hardly matters which house picks you, just like it doesn’t matter which wand chooses you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those words had been a comfort and the courage he’d needed to fully accept what had happened. He’d made friends with the boys in his dormitory after that. Had stopped following after Robb and his year-mates, and built his own life at Hogwarts. He was better for it. Sometimes, he wondered if he’d gone to Gryffindor like he’d wanted if he would still be trailing after Robb.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Argued might be a better word for it,” Jon said. He leaned back into the overstuffed cushions. “I asked for Gryffindor as soon as it was on my head. Begged and begged, honestly, but it wouldn’t do it. Kept saying I needed something else, even though Gryffindor fit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany laughed, a soft, shaky sound as she met his eyes. “Funny, really, you begging to get into Gryffindor and then I came up next and begged the exact opposite.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That did surprise Jon. “It wanted to put you in Gryffindor?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. It was quite adamant that it would suit me best. Or even Hufflepuff, if you can believe that. Either of those, it thought was best. But I was so scared to not be in Slytherin after what happened with Rhaegar, it let me decide.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon laughed in disbelief. “So, if the Hat had listened to me and not you, we’d both have been in the same house. That’s wild.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or ignored both of us and sorted us into Hufflepuff. I’m surprised it denied you your request,” Dany told him. “I mean, it let me choose in the end. Why not you, too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had to think on how to explain it, if he ought to say what he’d realized so many years ago.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think it knew, with me at least, that I could be a Gryffindor. I’m brave and can be bold and all of that other stuff, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>going</span>
  </em>
  <span> to Gryffindor would keep me from myself.” At Dany’s confused look, Jon continued. “Robb. He’s a year ahead, was my best friend since we were babies. If I’d gotten my wish for Gryffindor, I’d probably still be hounding his footsteps, instead of learning to be myself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany made a noise of consideration. “Maybe it realized you already had enough courage to face that unknown. And maybe I didn’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe you just hadn’t realized you did yet,” Jon countered. “You seem brave and bold enough to me, the way you almost scalped me that first day. Or the way you fly like it’s impossible that you could ever fall. You’re a lot braver than I could ever be, I think.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose we’ve all got a bit of each house in us,” Dany decided. “Brains and brawn and loyalty and ambitions. How could you be a full person without some of each?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She yawned and removed her shoes, tucking her feet under her and leaning into him. Jon stiffened as her head settled on her shoulder. Across the room, both Ghost and Drogon had gone quiet, sleeping peaceful for now, but by morning, Jon wouldn’t be surprised to find the room alive with the shrill chirps of baby owls.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Dany shivered, Jon put his arm around her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What we really need are blankets and pillows</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A moment later, his request had appeared at Dany’s side. She reached for one of the blankets and threw it over herself at once.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mmm, good thought, Jon Snow. Here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pillow hit him in the face, sent him sinking sideways into the couch and taking her weight with him. Jon tucked it under his head, and then put his arm back around Dany. She nuzzled her cheek against his chest and yawned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wake me if they hatch, will you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded, suddenly wide away as Dany drifted off tucked half against him. Across the room, Ghost gave a doleful hoot, watching them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut it, you,” Jon said, flipping his owl off. “This isn’t—just because you two are—Dany and I—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are trying to sleep,” Dany muttered, slapping his stomach. “Go to sleep, Jon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, okay. Goodnight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Night.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next time it'll be Dany's POV. Just a few more left, actually. Like I said before, this is just going to be a short fic. Well, a short multi-chapter compared to some of my other stories, haha.</p>
<p>I may be starting a new one in the coming weeks, too. Maybe. I'm still getting my head wrapped around parts of it, so it may end up being a figure it out as we go sort of deal.</p>
<p>Until next Tuesday, ciao!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another Tuesday, another update!</p>
<p>Just two more after this as a warning. Like I said, it's a short one.</p>
<p>Enjoy and stay safe!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>
  <span>She woke at daybreak to the shrill first cries of a newborn owl. Jon shifted against her, grumbling in his sleep. Dany sat up. His arm fell off her as Ghost and Drogon cooed and hooted. A tiny head of fluff was just visible between them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jon, wake up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany elbowed him. “One of them hatched, Jon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He bolted upright, almost headbutting her. Jon stared across the room in the pale dawn light, watching Ghost nuzzle the new little one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is it—when? How?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She snorted. “Did your mother never give you that talk, Jon Snow?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, hush.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He pushed his blanket off himself and stood up. Dany followed him across the room. Their first owlet was… well, it wasn’t the cutest thing in the world. Up close, it was rather ugly. Instead of feathers, it was fuzzy and white like an overgrown cotton ball. It’s beak was enormous, as were its eyes. Dany was glad to see Drogon’s big amber eyes gazing out of its tiny face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi, there, little one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost flapped his wings and trilled in joy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Easy, boy, not so loud.” Jon gave Ghost a sweet kiss on his head. “You’re a proud papa, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost nuzzled Jon’s chin, then hooted and did the same to Dany. She laughed at his sweetness, as Drogon caught her robe sleeve and tugged her hand to the little one’s head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, hello,” Dany told the owlet, rubbing its fuzzy head as it shrieked at them. “Welcome to the world. You’re going to have brothers and sisters soon, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you think, male or female for our first grandowl?” Jon gave the little one a few pats, too. “I, uh… I’m not sure how to tell with an owl, honestly. When I got Ghost they just told us at Eeylops.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, let’s figure it out later.” Dany checked her watch and was surprised to see it was nearly breakfast. “I need to get back to my dormitory. Get ready for the match. If I’m late, Jhogo will never let me hear the end of it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right. I’ll stay here with them then. I was going to go see the match, watch you, but…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon helpfully shuffled aside to give them a view of the three remaining eggs. Two had cracks, and the fourth a tiny poke hole. Dany touched each of them, smiling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We really should have thought up names the last few weeks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tonight we can. Let their personalities help us. Or their eventual owners may want to name them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She nodded, gave Drogon a quick kiss, and then thanked Ghost as he flew her bag back down to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks, you little goon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her hand was on the doorknob when Jon called out to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good luck today, Dany. Kick Robb’s ass for me, will you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany laughed. “I’ll try.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jhogo gave her several suspicious looks when she joined the Slytherin team at their table in the Great Hall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re late.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Missed my alarm,” Dany told him as she slid onto the bench next to him. She thanked him for the already full plate he passed her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Since when?” Orell slurped up his porridge and gave her a dirty look. “Heard you weren’t in the dormitory at </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Targaryen.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where I sleep is hardly your business,” Dany told him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before anyone else could butt in, Jhogo called an end to it. He was their captain in his final year at Hogwarts. With any luck Dany hoped she’d get the captaincy next year. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And Head Girl</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both of her brothers had missed the Head Boy mark. It was a failing Viserys had never forgiven himself for, and for Rhaegar it had been the last straw for their father. Dany was determined to earn that honor. And perhaps…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Would Jon Snow be her Head Boy? He seemed the most likely candidate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? She wasn’t in the dormitory,” Orell was still insisting. “She was off risking all our house points, snogging that Hufflepuff—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Enough.” Jhogo snapped. “She can do whatever she likes, since she could likely catch the Snitch and guard your goalposts for you at the same time, and still do better than you do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of the team cackled and hooted. Dany grinned at Jhogo in thanks. Once everyone had eaten their fill, they headed out to the stadium, the long house table cheering them on their way. Dany checked her broom over, then took her Quidditch robes out of her locker. Just looking at them brought back the night before. To her and Jon standing at this same spot, and her bold as brass disrobing like she wasn’t trembling with nerves to see his reaction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been stupid perhaps, but Jon had been so painfully obvious.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Somehow, her own growing affection had escaped his notice. Dany hoped it would stay that way, for despite Professor Lannister’s warning, she hadn’t been able to stall her heart. Every time Jon smiled, or swept his curls out of his eyes, or had the </span>
  <em>
    <span>gall</span>
  </em>
  <span> to give her that dopey, misty-eyed glance, her stomach rattled and her heart pretended it was a professional gymnast.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He’s just a boy</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Dany told herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But it did nothing to change her longing. And worse, it had done nothing from stopping her from kissing him the night before. Her lips tingled just thinking back to how soft his lips had been against hers. How he’d sighed happily, the way his curls had been softer somehow than silk as they twisted around her fingers...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Targaryen, you coming or not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jhogo gave her a shoulder bump and raised one dark eyebrow. He wasn’t exactly a friend, but compared to the rest of her house, he was easily on the list.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Daydreaming about a certain Hufflepuff?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still sneaking off the grounds to see Irri in Hogsmeade?” Dany countered, and they left it at that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She straightened her Quidditch robes, grabbed her broom, and followed the rest of the team through the tunnel and onto the field, her mind still lingering on the only boy still inside the castle.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Rousing cheers and chants dogged Dany’s footfalls as she made her way into the entrance hall and then up the stairs to the Room of Requirement. She paced three times before the blank stone wall until the door appeared, then grabbed at the handle and pulled it open. Jon was exactly where she’d left him, lounging on the couch only now Drogon was perched on his chest, hooting and cooing at him. Dany glanced at the nest and found Ghost was taking his own turn, head under his wing as a few soft chirps were muffled from beneath him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who’s the sweetest girl?” Jon was cooing, stroking Drogon’s feathers and feeding her owl treats as she preened for him. “You are, Drogon, yes, you are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany shut the door loudly to announce her presence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great match.” Jon twisted to look at her, one arm keeping Drogon from shifting off him. “That catch of yours, fantastic. Right from under Robb’s nose while he was yelling at whoever.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Normally, she would have laughed and agreed. Despite Orell’s dismal performance, Gryffindor’s new trio of Chasers had been as lackluster as Jon had said. Two third years and a fourth year with good aim, but clumsy hands. Robb Stark had spent the entire match yelling directions at his young team and eventually took a Bludger to the face instead of knocking it aside with his Beater’s bat. Dany had caught the Snitch while he’d hung in the air, trying to stop his nosebleed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Jon had been here, not at the match. Or so he’d said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How would you know that?” Dany gave him a suspicious look. “You were here with Drogon and Ghost, weren’t you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded as Drogon took flight and came to rest on Dany’s shoulder. Her owl hooted and cooed and rubbed at her cheek with her own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was, I was, nothing’s changed since this morning,” Jon assured her. He stood up and came over, grinning in a hopeful, sweet sort of way. Dany liked it and then disliked that she liked it for the way her stomach cartwheeled. “The room I guess, I don’t know, I think it knew I wanted to go. I had a damn good view from the window after I kept thinking about seeing the match. You were fantastic. Your best catch yet, I’d say. Not enough to beat my superb Keeper skills, but…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, hush, you arrogant toadstool.” Dany smacked his shoulder, but she couldn’t help the grin spreading over her face. “Those Gryffindor Chasers really were awful.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Told you,” Jon said. “Robb’s been having fits about how terrible the turnout was for his tryouts. They’ll likely get Arya next year, when she’s old enough, though she’s a better Seeker than Chaser. But even then…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A solid Seeker doesn’t make a Quidditch team.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had certainly proven true for Slytherin in recent years. If she caught the Snitch early enough, they usually won, but any match longer than half an hour was rarely their win.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Still just the one?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, a few more cracks, but that’s it.” Jon retook his seat on the couch and straightened his open books and parchment scrolls. Inky owl footprints littered everything. “Drogon’s been a bit, uh, needy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany reached up and stroked her owl where she was still resting on her shoulder. “I see that. Were you a bad girl, sweetheart?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon ruffled her wings and trilled softly. Across the room, Ghost clicked his beak as he woke. They watched him give their first baby a few sweet head nudges before examining the rest of the eggs. Dany took a look, too. Some progress had occurred; one of them had a decent sized piece missing and damp, dark fluff peaking out. From inside, a tiny voice chirped in interest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Number two will be here soon.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon left her to help Ghost in examining the remaining eggs. Dany joined Jon, spreading her own books and notes out on the table. Transfiguration was next, their go to for Saturday afternoons. It was funny how easily they’d adopted a schedule for homework, how quickly they got through their assignments.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you understand the—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dany, could we talk?” Jon set his quill down, his frown determined but serious. “About yesterday, I mean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She tensed, already knowing what he meant, but she nodded anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Look, if I kissed you and you didn’t—I shouldn’t have without asking you. I’m sorry if I overstepped, or if this is about to become more awkward because I… I like you. A lot. Um, so that’s… yeah.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He held her gaze, steady and nervous. Dany swallowed as his stormy eyes fixed on her. It would be so easy to brush it off like nothing; to lie and let Jon take the blame for leaning in first—to pretend that her own feelings concerning him didn’t concern her at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The longer she stayed quiet, the more uncertain he became. Just when Jon dropped her gaze, Dany spoke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I kissed you first,” she told him. “I didn’t mean to… well, I did, but… I suppose I rather like you, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They sat in silence for a long time. Dany didn’t know what else to say on the matter, and neither did Jon it seemed. She was embarrassed at her confession, but relieved and scared, too. Dating was a distraction. Trips to Hogsmeade sharing the same cloak, or strolling the grounds, or cuddling while their little owlets grew up… all of it was too fantastic to happen. If her grades fell, she’d never hear the end of it. For surely, they would if she spent half her time snogging Jon Snow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just picturing him beneath her, panting and flushed and sloppy from their kissing made her feel faint with hope.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally, Jon cleared his throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Would you want to go with me to Hogsmeade next month? They haven’t posted the date yet, I know, but we could go. Together. Like a date.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A-a date?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon’s face fell. “Of course, if you don’t want to—I mean, we can just be friends. Our studies are important, too. Determine our whole futures, really, so it’s fine. We can forget yesterday happened and—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany kissed him. For the second time in two days, she found herself leaning over to capture his lips. They were just as soft and plump and warm as before. She pulled away reluctantly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll go with you, I suppose,” Dany told him, her face flaming. “But, look, we’ve got enough distractions with our owls and now the owlets. If my grades start slipping—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right, sure. Same here. But…” Jon considered her thoughtfully. “I’ve been getting through my homework a lot quicker, working with you. My Ancient Runes grade is up, too. I know you said you work with Missandei, so she’s welcome to join us whenever. I don’t mind that, if she’s feeling left out. Or if we hang out with friends some nights instead of each other. After this lot are grown anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In truth, Missandei wasn’t missing her much.. She’d taken to dating a boy named Grey in the year above them, and Dany saw less and less of her since the pair rarely seemed to come up for air. Most of her days had suddenly been her and Jon. And their owls, of course. But her free time was spent almost exclusively with Jon Snow. As much as she wanted to mind it, Dany could honestly say she didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“One date doesn’t mean we’re… you know.” She blushed like a hot coal. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded, looking very serious. “Right. Sorry. Didn’t mean to presume that we would…” He cleared his throat. “Well, let’s have our date in Hogsmeade and decide then, shall we?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany agreed. It was a diplomatic answer and allowed both of them to brush off the idea of making whatever this was immediately official and weighty. They settled in to continue their homework, cracking open their Transfiguration books and notes, but the silence was too stuffy. Every breath reminded Dany of how close they were—of Jon’s knee next to hers, and the heat coming off his body; the way his curls hung just so as he peered down at his book.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe asking now was a monstrous idea.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The December Hogsmeade trip was weeks away. How was she supposed to function with him this close and their date so far away? Did he really think they could keep themselves from repeating their previous kisses—and more so, could they really be trusted to not do half a dozen other things in this room before their date even arrived?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re terrible, Jon Snow, did you know that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hummed ideally, but nodded. “Bloody hat must have been out of its mind, I’ve got no patience at all, asking you weeks beforehand. When we’re going to be sitting here… every day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany set her quill down and screwed her ink jar closed. “Very rude.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right.” Jon did the same with his ink jar and quill, shoved her curls out of his face. “Wanna make out?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All right then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon cupped her cheek and kissed her hard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’d never had a snogging session quite like it. Jon was eager and as overexcited as she’d come to expect of a sixteen-year-old boy, but he was sweet and easygoing, too. When Dany pushed him to lay back, he didn’t resist her. He didn’t grind his hips on her until she started the motion. And his lips… they tasted like ham sandwiches, which wasn’t great or terrible, but they were firm and soft at once. She kept chasing them whenever he pulled back for air, hungry for more, trying to decide if she liked them best when they were softer and relaxed, or firm and urgent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sun had set but the time they paused. Jon simply stayed where he was, breathing hard, his robes slightly bulged over his lap like he’d developed a gut in the wrong area. Dany sat back and fixed her hair as best she could. Both their lips were chapped, their faces rosy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That was, uh.” Jon heaved in several lungfuls of air and adjusted himself. “Dunno if kissing ever made me that dizzy before.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only because all your blood’s taken a journey elsewhere.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He laughed a bit at that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany glanced at their owls, somewhat embarrassed to find two glowing sets of eyes watching them. When she went over, a little black fluff ball had joined the white one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Looks like we have two grandowls now,” Dany told him. She gave their newest one a few strokes as it screamed up at her. “Hello, little one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon joined her, peering under Ghost at the last two eggs. Crackles littered their faces. As they watched the one speckled with white and gray rocked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Looks like we’ve got another night here,” he said. “What do you think? Dinner first?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, please, I’m starving.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They packed up their books and straightened up the pillows they’d knocked all over. When they left the Room of Requirement, ten minutes later, Dany found Jon’s hand in hers. She couldn’t say who’s idea that had been, but she gave his hand a squeeze and returned his smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Bollocks to you and yours, Professor Lannister. This one is mine.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another Tuesday (likely Wednesday for some of you now!), another chapter.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>believe</span>
  </em>
  <span> you asked Targaryen out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon rolled his eyes at Robb and kept eating. Exasperation, mirth, and bafflement turned what was usually Robb’s face into a lot of tangled features not unlike a Picasso painting Jon had once seen in a museum.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, I did. I like her. She’s…” Jon paused, unable to settle on a single word to encompass everything that Dany was. “Once you get to know her, you’ll like her, too. I mean, not in </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> way, but she’s fantastic, Robb.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His cousin nodded in acceptance and dumped a whole platter of sausages onto his plate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How’re the owls?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Loud,” Jon admitted. Somehow, he hadn’t realized how noisy four shrill newborn owlets would be. They were thriving already though, between their two adoring parents, and their two doting humans. “They’re all hatched now. Still trying to figure out if they’re male or female.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm. She’s got an eagle owl, doesn’t she?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, but with Ghost mixed in… I dunno. One’s white like him, the other three are dark.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Robb shoveled sausages into his mouth, swallowed, and said, “I think for the eagle owls its about those ear tufts. The female has droopy tufts, and the male’s curl up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded and finished his own breakfast. It was Monday. Once his favorite day of the week was slowly becoming his least liked. Especially after the last two days. Their snogging hadn’t stopped after Saturday afternoon. It had carried into Saturday evening after dinner, then yesterday morning, and as dessert, as Dany called it, after dinner last night. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You okay, Jon? You look like someone just filled you with helium.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? Oh, sure.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He let out the breath he’d been holding, more to get Robb’s gaze off him than because he wanted to. Holding his breath momentarily, he’d discovered, was a very good way to prevent all of his blood from flooding his crotch. Unfortunately, it made kissing rather difficult. Dany had riddled his collarbone with hickies instead when he’d explained his new habit to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon left the Gryffindor table and returned to his house mates, snatching up his bag to join them on their way to Charms. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So far, he hadn’t mentioned his impending date to his friends. Only Robb knew outside of him and Dany. And Missandei, perhaps, if Dany had told her. They hadn’t done a lot of talking recently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He spotted her then, a few paces ahead in the corridor, her silver-gold hair twisted into half a dozen braids that were further tangled together. Missandei was with her, a head taller and smiling at whatever Dany was saying. Jon gave Pyp, Grenn, and Edd a glance, found them busy as usual pestering each other, and hurried to catch up with Dany.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Morning,” he greeted, giving her hand a little squeeze as he fell into step beside her. “Hi, Missandei.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany’s fingers tangled up with his and she beamed so brightly, Jon had to resist the urge to shut his eyes. She was like staring into a solar eclipse sometimes. Rare and incredible, but deadly to his retinas if he lingered too long. Missandei gave him a knowing little smirk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Had a good weekend, Jon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, yeah, it was… eventful.” Jon cleared his throat as Missandei’s smirk grew. “Because of the owlets, you know. Four screaming mouths. Dunno how Ghost and Drogon can keep up with the lot of them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Divide and conquer, I expect,” Dany said. Her face looked as red as Jon’s suddenly felt with Missandei there, smirking and eyeing them as if she knew about every hickey on Jon’s collarbones, of every slow rutting roll of their hips, of the sounds Dany had made when she’d allowed him to—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was just saying we should check on them at break,” Dany said, raising her eyebrow at him. “Just in case.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah, sure. Definitely.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d reached the Charms classroom. Missandei went inside without them, and Jon had to endure several ridiculous moments as his friends took their time to follow. Pyp wouldn’t stop grinning and pointing at their joined hands, Grenn thumped him so hard on the back only Dany’s grip kept him from stumbling, and Edd just rolled his eyes and muttered darkly about romance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose everyone’ll know by lunch,” Dany commented, lifting their joined hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lunch? I give it ‘til the break.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were both wrong. Somehow, rumors of their joined hands had spread across the castle by the bell that ended Charms. Heads turned as they left the classroom and made their way through the jam-packed corridors to their next lesson. Jon had rarely garnered so much attention. He found he really didn’t like it, but with Dany’s hand in his he managed to ignore it. Dany had taken his hand the moment they’d been dismissed by Professor Lannister, though Jon hadn’t missed the frown on their professor’s face. He’d been a bit surprised, but after a bit of thought, had a reason at least. Afterall, Professor Lannister was head of Slytherin House and Daenerys was his star pupil.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the bell rang to end their Ancient Runes lesson, they hurried across the castle to the seventh floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose it’s good we didn’t bet on the Hogwarts rumor mill,” Jon said as they did their usual pacing in front of the blank wall hiding their owl family. A moment later, they were inside their room and wincing at the shrill noises. “Bugger, I’m glad we moved them. Can you imagine how the other owls would react to this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany gave a hum of agreement, and then her hands were tugging his face down to hers. Jon gasped into her mouth, then choked when she started laughing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you going to kiss me or not, Jon Snow?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Suppose, if you insist…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She did. Jon wasn't quite sure how they ended up in their favorite spot on the couch, with Dany on top of him, but he didn’t have any interest in complaining. By the time the bell rang for lunch, they hadn’t so much as said hello to their little owl family. Drogon didn’t take kindly to their rudeness. She arrived with an annoyed screech and several pecks to their suctioned together faces.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ouch!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Drogon, don’t!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If she heard their complaints, Drogon didn’t care. She continued to peck at them until Dany had climbed off his lap and was fixing the mess he’d made of her braids.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s wrong, Drogon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gave another screech and flew back to the nest. Jon was quick to follow, checking each sleepy owlet, but they were all just fine. Fluff and precious and safe and loved. Ghost gave him an offended look.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t you look at me like that, I’m allowed to snog my—err, Dany if we want to instead of taking care of </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> offspring. You helped make them, so it’s your job to raise them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost hooted in the sassiest way Jon had ever heard and tucked his head under his wing. Drogon turned her tail to them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think we’ve created a pair of spoiled monsters being here all the time,” Dany said. She reached out to pet Drogon and was greeted with several annoyed beak clicks. “Fine, we won’t bring you any snacks from dinner then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon didn’t seem to mine, but Ghost’s head popped right up as he began to hoot and give them the biggest, saddest red eyes that Jon had ever seen. He seemed to know that Jon wouldn’t have a soft spot for him, but Dany was still quite the push over when Ghost turned up the sweetness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, all right, we’ll bring the usual snacks. Yes, yes, you are so precious, you silly Ghost.” She peppered his face with kisses until Ghost was positively shivering with happiness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They left for lunch, Jon readjusting his bulging bag stuffed with all his books. Both of them had been neglecting their homework in favor of each other’s lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You spoil him worse than I do, you know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, like you don’t treat Drogon as if you’re a doting father and she’s your precious daughter?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm. Fair. Suppose I am in a way, since the babies are our grandowls.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So that’s us then? Mama and Papa to Ghost and Drogon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Err, well, I mean…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a strange moment for Jon, marked more so by the questionable nature of their relationship and because half his mind was still firmly locked into their most recent makeout. Dany’s expression made him certain she was thinking something similar. Neither of them seemed ready to address it. Whatever this was felt too new and precious still.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lunch?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lunch,” Jon agreed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>November tipped over into December, and with the beginning edge of winter came the first snowfall just in time for their date in Hogsmeade. Their snogging sessions continued, usually interrupted by their owls or the growing owlets as they became more active. Jon kept trying to bring up their much needed discussion on what they were to one another, but he never seemed to manage it. Kissing usually stopped him. Or the fear that kissing was all this was. That their date was simply a fantasy he’d invented despite how excited Dany seemed when they said their goodbyes in the entrance hall the Friday night beforehand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Meet right here?” She teased, tugging at one of his curls in the way she knew drove him crazy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t miss it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were blissfully alone, as they so often were these days. Minus their owls, of course, but they were so busy tending their little ones now that Jon and Dany had plenty of time to themselves. He gave her a lingering kiss, then watched her disappear down the stairs to the dungeons. Jon was a few paces from the stairs to the basement, when a very familiar voice called down the stairs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>, why would you want to swallow each other’s tongues like that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was Arya, peering at him from over the bannister, out well past her first-year based curfew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re supposed to be in Gryffindor Tower,” Jon told her, coming up the stairs. “Seeking out for what? Plans to sabotage that kid you don’t like?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arya pursed her lips and made a farting noise. “As if. He’s a mutant. I was trying to…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nudged her back along the corridor. She’d need a Prefect or teacher escort to get back up to her common room without getting into trouble at this hour.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? Not out in the lake trying to catch frogs again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gave her a dirty look. “Do I look soggy to you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He took his time considering her, just long enough until she was annoyed at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not today,” Jon finally said as they ducked behind a tapestry to a secret stair that would take them up two floors. “So what then? I ought to take points from Gryffindor, catching you out so late.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arya frowned and scuffed her shoes at the floor, dragging her feet until Jon had to stop to wait for her abysmal pace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was looking for you, that’s all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, trying to… to find out where Ghost and the babies are.” She looked up at him, very serious. “I thought maybe I could have one of them. It’d be cool to have my own owl instead of fighting with Sansa over Lady.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon considered her idea. Mrs. Stark, his aunt, could be rather rigid about certain things. His own fatherless upbringing was one of the main disagreements between his mum and aunt. Arya’s carefree nature was another. As far as her mother was concerned, Arya was not responsible enough for her own owl. It was a point Sansa rarely let her younger sister forget. For Jon, it couldn’t be further from the truth when it came to his favorite little cousin. Arya could certainly skip out on things Aunt Cat thought where necessary or important, but when Arya really cared about something, she was as responsible as an eleven-year-old could get.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm. They’re still too little to leave Ghost and Drogon, but I suppose you could meet them, see if one is a good fit. We can show you have to take care of them, too. I’ll talk to Dany about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you think she’ll say no?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon hesitated. “No, but… they’re awfully cute. We’re both already getting attached to them, you know, and getting Ghost and Drogon to let them go…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t seem quite fair to ask of their owls, when they’d decided to start their own family. But then, once the owlets were grown and no longer needed their parents, would they not just fly off to their own lives anyway?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d reached Gryffindor Tower’s entrance, the Fat Lady snoring in her portrait, one eye peeking open to watch them. Arya was beaming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll name her Nymeria, and get her all the best things and—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Explain to Robb why his baby sister lost ten points tonight for being out almost two hours after her curfew,” Jon said. He chuckled at Arya’s crestfallen face. “Go on, get in. And </span>
  <em>
    <span>stay</span>
  </em>
  <span> there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Arya glowered and grumbled, but she muttered the password and climbed through the portrait hole. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of the cozy, bright, cheerful room within. Then the Fat Lady swung closed, eyeing him darkly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, don’t just stand there, best get off to your </span>
  <em>
    <span>own</span>
  </em>
  <span> common room.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon shook his head at her and headed back downstairs.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Morning dawned chilly and sunny. Jon could barely eat with how nervous he was. He spent his short breakfast checking his hair, adjusting his sweater, triple-checking the fly of his jeans. Pyp and Grenn were oddly quiet. Edd had shocked them all by being up and gone before any of them had woken. He’d yet to make an appearance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s looking your way,” Pyp said as the first students began leaving their tables to start the Hogsmeade queue in the entrance hall. “Your girlfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dany isn’t my girlfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Why did it hurt so much to say that? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grenn made a noise of disbelief and splattered the table with half-chewed egg bits.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s dating you, isn’t she? Snogging you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That doesn’t mean—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Never known a girl to give you hickies like </span>
  <em>
    <span>those</span>
  </em>
  <span> if she’s not your girlfriend,” Grenn said. He nodded as if that settled the matter. “Get lost then. And don’t let us find you snogging in that tea shop!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon gave them a half-hearted wave as he left to go wait in the entrance hall. Dany wasn’t there yet, but she wasn’t far behind. A few minutes later, she appeared with Missandei and one of Robb’s year-mates and fellow Gryffindors, Grey. Jon knew him well enough, considering, since his cousin and Grey were friends and Jon had tagged after them half of his own first-year.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Jon.” Missandei beamed at him, hugging on Grey’s arm. “Guess we’ll see you two in Hogsmeade? Oh, a double date later maybe?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grey shook his head at her suggestion, then gave Jon a nod. “Maybe not for their first one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And possibly only,” Dany said, but she took Jon’s hand as she said it and shot him one of her coy, teasing little smiles he’d come to know so well. “Ready to take me on a date then, Jon Snow?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They left Grey and Missandei behind on the long walk down the sweeping drive to the village. Dany swung their arms as they went, and Jon’s nerves doubled. He couldn’t believe he was embarrassed and yet he was for reasons he couldn’t quite explain. Dating wasn’t something he’d ever really done. The one time he’d gone around Hogsmeade with his ex, they’d met there, not called it an official date where they’d spent the whole day together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re even more quiet than usual,” Dany said as they passed through the gates guarded by statues of winged boars. “Regretting my company already?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, of course not. I, um…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m just… this is…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon couldn’t figure how to put it into words. He wasn’t sure he could explain it to himself, this sudden, new pressure he felt. Getting to know one another and studying together had been easy. Making out had been so sweet and simple. But going somewhere together, really stepping into the… whatever this was, was different.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nervous, that’s all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jon, you had your tongue down my throat and your hand up my skirt not twelve hours ago.” Dany pulled him a few paces off the main path and out of everyone else’s way. “And I seem to recall my own hand getting rather familiar with what hangs out in </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> trousers.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He waited for a blush that didn’t come. Dany’s fingers caught his chin and tipped his face toward hers until he met her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you want to not do this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do. I wouldn’t have asked you out if I didn’t, I just… I don’t know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She took a seat on a boulder nearby, watching the last few stragglers pass on their way to the village. Once they were alone, she spoke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m scared, too. With Daario, I never really… he wasn’t the go out to dinner or to the Three Broomsticks sort. We just…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Made out like we’ve been doing?” Jon took a seat next to her. “That’s all me and Ygritte ever really did, too. I don’t want </span>
  <em>
    <span>us</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be only that, too. I like you too much for that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Me, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sniffled and wiped at her nose. “I kept wanting to talk about it. To not just be snogging and homework, but kissing is a lot easier.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, and more fun.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany laughed. “That, too. So, I guess we’re discussing this before the date even starts. I feel like we’re doing everything out of order.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Didn’t know there was a necessary order to these kinds of things.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess there’s no reason not to figure it out as we stumbled through it,” Dany agreed. “So, do you, uh, want to be my boyfriend so we can go on our first date?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that you saying you’ll only go on a date with me if I am?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon held out his hand, trembling slightly though it was, and after a moment of shared smiles, Dany took it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose it is, boyfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then where are we off to first, girlfriend?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Goofy grins marked their faces all morning and into the blustery afternoon as snow began to fall anew. Jon had never spent a day quite like it. They visited all the shops in the village, from the post office lined with owls to the joke shop where they had a lot of fun finding fake wands that matched their real ones. And best of all for Jon—they talked. Endlessly, pointlessly, happily. Their conversation ebbed and flowed, never grew awkward even in the silences. They were comfortable without any questions hanging over their heads.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“—so then Viserys decided he really </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a dragon, and he tried to climb the cliffs around the beach and… oh.” Dany started laughing, her arm hooked through his and her head on his shoulder as they made their way back up the long drive in the bruised sunset. “I’ve never seen my mom so scared and angry. He cracked his head open, broke his ankle and his arm. She made him heal the Muggle way as punishment. He’s hated dragons ever since.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon grinned and kissed her hair. “What’s he do now that he’s out of school?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Slinks around after my father mostly. Shows up at the Ministry to snark about Muggleborns and whatever other prejudices he’s enraged about on any given day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She fell rather quiet at that. They reached the noisy entrance hall, stepping in from the chill into the warm glow of the candlelight casting across the room from the Great Hall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re both like that,” Dany admitted. “My father and brother. Rhaegar isn’t. It’s part of why he left. And my mother… she tries. Mostly she’s fine, but she was raised just the same as my father. With all of those dehumanizing ideas and beliefs in our own superiority. She’s aware and checks herself, but sometimes I still have to remind her when she’s wrong.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s good that you do, I’m sure she’s glad to have you to help teach her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I hope so.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My uncles and my aunt can be a bit like that sometimes,” Jon admitted. “Little things they say that they don’t even recognize as prejudice. Robb and I make a point to say something. They listen for the most part. My mum goes off of them, too. They’re dead afraid of her, my uncles. Can’t blame them, really. You know what thunder means when my mum starts yelling at you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany chuckled. “Good. We can’t let things like that slide, you know. I mean, with my father it’s just a waste of time to try. Viserys, too. I’d rather focus on helping than trying to convince them they don’t have their heads in the sand.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany gave his arm a little tug toward the Great Hall. While they’d been out, the first wave of Christmas decorations had gone up. Twelve vast trees stood around the hall, decked in icicles, crystal spheres and powdery snow. Robb gave him a wave from the Gryffindor table, and at the Hufflepuff table, his friends all stood and were half-climbing on top of each other to see them better. But it was the Ravenclaw table they headed toward, Missandei’s cheerful face and wave leading them over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“About time you two turned up,” she said as Jon and Dany took two empty seats across from her. “Have a good first date?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany looked at him, another wonderful smile, so reminiscent of all the other ones she’d given him throughout the day, spreading over her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The best.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aye, the very best Saturday with my girlfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The fierce new joy of officially being Dany’s boyfriend took Jon all the way through to the end of term. They studied together and took walks out on the snowy ground. Some afternoons that had snowball fights and others they brought their brooms out to the Quidditch pitch and flew together in the snow and dusk. It was the holiday break, however, that brought Jon back down. Two whole weeks at his Uncle Ned’s house with all his family and his mother. Two weeks without Dany and Ghost, of complicated arrangements to care for two over-protective owl parents and four owlets who’d just realized they had an entire world to explore.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I really can take them, you know,” Jon said as he and Dany piled all six owls into their compartment on the train. “My cousins will adore getting to play with them, even if Aunt Cat worries about the mess. I don’t want you to have to take on all the responsibility.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jon, it’s fine. My mother is dying to meet them. And besides, we’re going to spend the holidays with my brother. Rhaegar, not Viserys,” she added when he gave her a funny look. “My niece and nephew will probably love them, too. Apparently, my parents had another one of their big rows and Mum decided to stay with Rhaegar.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s… good, I suppose.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is. She’s threatened to leave for years, but to finally do it… I’m proud of her. I think part of it was…” Dany paused, blushing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve been telling her all about you in my letters home,” Dany told him in a rush, looking a bit embarrassed. “How sweet and kind and thoughtful you are, brooding silences aside. That I never expected to find a boy like that considering how father and Viserys are. Even if Ghost is a reckless little nuisance.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost made a disgruntled noise from his cage, then screeched in annoyance as the two owlets shut up with him returned to their new favorite game of feet pecking. They’d determined two were male and two female, one of which was pale and snowy like her father. Names were still up in the air. Mostly, they’d been calling them cute endearments like “muffin top” and “sweetie pie gumdrop” and the occasional, but all too necessary, “rotten egg-scented brat”.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My mum wants to meet you,” Jon said, settling in beside her as the train began its journey back south to London. “I never shut up about you in my letters home, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It seems we’re quite the pair,” Dany mumbled. She tucked her face into his neck and sighed. “Gods, what if our mums hate each other.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or worse, what if they like each other and become best friends?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, I mean it would be good for our grandowls to have two awesome best friend great-grandmothers.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Until they go off to live with other people,” Jon reminded her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was becoming an uncomfortable point in their agreement from back in October. Giving up the owlets to other students or friends or some of Jon’s cousins had been easy when they were just speckled eggs, but at almost six weeks old, with their sweet personalities developing, it was much harder to keep to that decision. Ghost and Drogon adored all four of them to the point where their love had brought both Jon and Dany to tears at least twice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s for the best,” Dany said. “Six owls is too much. And we’re technically only allowed one pet at school each.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right. Maybe our mums will take them on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or maybe they’ll just take each other on. Mum fight of the century, Snow versus Targaryen.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon didn’t bother to correct her on the name. Neither of them were quite right on that count. When the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform Nine and Three Quarters that evening, Jon was greeted by his doting mother the moment he hopped onto the platform.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, how are you? Where are my little owls?” Lyanna kissed his cheeks and hugged him tight, then paused peering over his shoulder to where Dany had just hopped down behind him. “Is this—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blushing, Jon reached his hand back for Dany. “Mum, this is Dany, my girlfriend. Dany, this is my mum, Lyanna.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he waited, terrified of his mother’s reaction, positive or negative, it wouldn’t matter. His mother had a tendency to be over-the-top.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, it’s wonderful to meet you,” Lyanna said, and for a moment, Jon had hope that she would restrain her affections. Then she launched herself onto Dany in a big hug that almost knocked her over. “My baby boy’s first girlfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mum, I had a —”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You never introduced me so that girl doesn’t count.” Lyanna took a step back to let Dany breathe, looking her over. “I hear you have quite an interest in justice and equal rights.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I do, Mrs. Snow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ms. Stark actually, dear, but Lyanna is just fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Jon could blink they were off, diving head first into the intricacies of elf rights and a debate he’d heard a hundred times. It was pleasant to see how easy it was between them, but what made it better was a pair of squeaky voices arriving from the crowd of students and parents.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jojen, Meera!”</span>
</p>
<p><span>The pair were beaming ear to ear, decked out in wool hats and robes. People nearby gave them curious and even offended looks, even more so when Jon embraced them. They weren’t allowed at Hogwarts still, despite being of an age with Jon. As a boy, he’d been very confused that his letter had arrived while neither of theirs had.</span> <span> Then furious when Lyanna and Howland had explained why.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that her?” Jojen asked, glancing past Jon to Lyanna and Dany. “What about Ghost’s kids?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“On the train still, figured we’d get bombarded by Mum first.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Meera rolled her great brown eyes. “I thought she was going to wreck the car on the drive down, she kept getting so distracted about meeting her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Drove?” Jon gave them both a horrified look. “My mother drove a </span>
  <em>
    <span>car?</span>
  </em>
  <span> On the </span>
  <em>
    <span>road?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I did, Jonathan, and you best get used to it.” His mother tossed her arm around his shoulders. “How else am I supposed to drive Meera and Jojen to school?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t have a license!” Then Jon paused, her words catching up with his brain. “School? What do you—did you get the permits?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Permits?” Dany joined them, her eyebrows lifting in clear interest. Then she spotted Jojen and Meera and smiled. “Jojen and Meera? Jon never stops talking about you two.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He never shuts up about you either,” Jojen said, even as Meera stamped on his foot. “What? It’s true! Jon lo—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This time, Jon added his foot to Meera’s. When he glanced at Dany she was blushing, too. Lyanna gave them a delighted little smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, we got the permits to make a school. Meera convinced them in the end. I wish you could have been with us to see her speech, Jon. Mostly its just us and Mr. Brightlittle, but we’ve potentially got another student. We’re meeting with her after Christmas. She’s been freed for years apparently, wants to learn and teach at the school. It’ll be great if she accepts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Damn right,” Meera said. “I’m going to graduate and make that dumb old Ministry listen to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, I’m gonna open a restaurant,” Jojen decided.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon grinned. Howland was still a bit confused by his children’s dreams sometimes, he was getting rather old and his memory was starting to slip up. But he was happy, too, to see some sort of paths being forced open for Meera and Jojen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll be right there with you both,” Lyanna said. “Marching or protesting or however you need us to back you up. I think Dany here might be interested in helping.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Absolutely.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Around them the platform had started to clear out as students and their parents disappeared or stepped back through the magical barrier to Muggle London. Jon was just turning to get back on the train for their owls and luggage, when he spotted someone who could only be Dany’s mother. They were about the same height, the same face shape and nose and violet eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dany…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nudged her and as soon as Dany spotted her mother, an even larger smile spread over her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mum, over here!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll go get the owls, I’m sure they’re about to murder each other.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon ducked into the train as Mrs. Targaryen spotted her daughter. He took his time, fumbling nervously with the cages. All six were still asleep. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s just her mum. Not her dad. She’s not like he is.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But all the stories of Mr. Targaryen hadn’t eased his nerves about Dany’s mother. Or her brother Viserys. Rhaegar sounded nice enough, but the others…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Dany loves and trusts her, that ought to be enough for you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He found all of them gathered together beside the train steps talking and waiting for him. Mrs. Targaryen was eyeing Jojen and Meera with great interest, but she didn’t look angry like a lot of people did when they saw two house elves wearing robes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mum, this is Jon. Jon, my mother.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Targaryen.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She smiled at him, a little stiffly, almost like she was nervous</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My daughter simply raves about you,” she told him, giving him a once over. “Said she’s never been happier than she has with you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy either,” Jon admitted. “Minus all beak peaking related injuries.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany rolled her eyes. “I showed you the charm to heal those.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, and I ended up turning the one into a blood blister instead.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll work on it after break,” Dany said. She took Drogon’s cage from him, and peered in at the two owlets tucked up with their mother’s warmth. “Mum, these are—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her words were drowned out by the group all rushing in to coo at the four new additions. Jon handed Ghost over at his mother, even as his owl gave him a rather offended glare. Dany did the same with Drogon’s cage as they stood back to watch everyone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seems like they’re getting along well enough,” Jon said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany nodded, but her eyes lingered on her own mother, who’s joy at the newborns seemed to have dampened slightly at Jojen and Meera’s proximity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll talk to her,” Dany said, her violet eyes fierce. “She… I’ve never really discussed politics with my family, if I can help it. My father would probably kick me out like Rhaegar, but with Mother... now’s as good a day as any to start.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon nodded. “If you need me…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, only an owl away,” Dany said. “Assuming I can convince them to separate.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We haven’t managed it in almost three months. Doubt anything will keep those two apart now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany’s face fell in horror.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, gods, what if they do it again once these four are grown?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I—” Jon was already shaking his head. “No, absolutely not. After school maybe, but…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Merlin’s saggy left testicle, we’re doomed.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gods, we are.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next one is the last one, not sure if it'll be an epilogue or a more normal chapter for Dany. We shall see what I write it, haha.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All right, it's the end already, and its quite short, too, as epilogues like to be.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>
  <span>“I should have worn three cloaks,” Dany muttered. Or tried to—her teeth were chattering so hard she was sure Jon could barely understand her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon laughed, the cage full of shrilly hooting owlets swinging from his left hand. They were finally too heavy for her to carry for long distances. Even Jon was struggling, shifting the cage from one hand to the other every few minutes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> cold.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany huffed. “Not that cold? The snoot in my nose is freezing solid, Jon Snow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He snorted and leaned over, kissing her numb nose tip. “Better?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your grandmother is a big baby, kids,” Jon said, lifting the owlets up to talk directly to them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all screamed louder than ever, excited by the light wind and the outside air and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>cold</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Little feathers covered their tiny bodies now. One snowy white, two black speckled gray, and the last and their largest, gray with white and brown and black spots. Arya had already named her Nymeria.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Overhead, Ghost and Drogon soared through the open sky, glad to be back outside after so long indoors. It was mid-February now. All the owlets had molted away their fuzzy, warm feathers and were sleek like their parents.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany shivered and sighed. “Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure</span>
  </em>
  <span> you four can’t wait until spring?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her question only made the four scream more fiercely. Just the sight of her or Jon sent the little pack into a frenzy. Their owlets simply loved them. It made it that much harder to consider giving them up, but they’d done nothing to search out potential owners since they’d returned to Hogwarts from winter break. Only Arya would be taking one. The other three…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, Dany. Once we’re up in the air, you’ll warm up. You can share my broom, if you want.” Jon winked at her, then laughed again when she tried to push him. “Don’t hurt the merchandise!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d reached the Quidditch field. Dany set their brooms down against the barrier that separated the field from the stands. She tightened her scarf, then smiled when Jon wrapped his around her neck and face, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seems lucky, me loving the cold while you freeze up like a puddle.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The top of the lake is—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Frozen so solid people are skating on it.” Jon rolled his eyes. “Still not that cold.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re infuriating.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Peas in a pod, we are.” He hoisted the owl cage onto the barrier and tried to shush their grandowls. “Kids, come on now, what happened to the sleepy, quiet little owlets we tucked in last night?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Keyword, tucked in.” Dany whistled to Ghost and Drogon, two dark specks against the overcast sky. “I told you, we’ve spoiled them rotten. Absolutely nobody is going to want an owl that demands a lullaby and a goodnight kiss before having a kip in the Owlery.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“True, so why do you keep doing it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To make sure I am just as bad as you are. Hey, girl.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon landed beside the cage with a pleased hoot. Ghost circled once more before joining her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you two ready to teach your babies to leave?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany smiled. “Don’t be so dramatic,” she told him. “They’re just learning to fly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All four had been attempting to take laps around the nursery in the last week. But the space was too small, and the window too high. She’d begged the room to shut the open window panel when Nymeria had almost reached it. So Dany and Jon had come up with a new solution. On the first clear day, or as clear as any day got in late winter around Hogwarts, they would gather them all up and take them on their first flying lesson.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As badly as they all needed to learn, Dany wished today could have chosen a warmer temperature. Or at least a sight of the weary winter sun.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, but… once they learn, they can leave, you know. Go off. Forget about us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon’s voice cracked and it only made Dany love him more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You act like we’re about to send our kid off to Hogwarts, never to be seen again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kid? We don’t—I mean, I know we’ve done—but a </span>
  <em>
    <span>kid</span>
  </em>
  <span>…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany knelt down and let little Snowy nibble on her finger. “Your grandpa is a big silly isn’t he?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon was blushing and muttering, but he nodded when she asked if he was ready. As soon as the cage door was open, the owlets shoved their way out, fighting and hooting and flapping.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“One at a time, one at a—Nymeria!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Too late, their biggest and boldest was already in the air, flapping hard and testing her wings. Soon enough her brothers and snowy sister followed. Ghost took to the air with them, but Drogon waited for Dany and Jon to grab their brooms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Best to keep them from going for the forest,” Jon said, watching the little pack fluttering a dozen feet overhead. “If Nymeria gets in there, we’ll never get her out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Or Balerion.” Her niece, Rhaenys, had named the larger of the two males after her recently deceased cat over Christmas. He didn’t answer to anything else now. “Let’s go.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And they kicked off into the air. A rush of adrenaline filled Dany, though the cold remained despite Jon’s hopes. Having six owls to focus on was a good distraction, however. Jon kept pace at her side, catching their little ones whenever one lost focus or began to drop. They were up there for over an hour, hovering and circling, cutting Nymeria off from her rushed attempts toward the tree line. Dany’s hands were going numb, despite two pairs of gloves, when they finally collected all four and returned to the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I know you want to keep going, but it’s very cold out today,” Dany said, forcing Balerion back into the cage while Jon wrestled with Nymeria. “We’ll go out tomorrow if it’s nice. And warm.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Grandpa Jon will brave the cold with you,” he said, and then he shoved Nymeria into the cage with the other three. “Her and Arya deserve each other, gods, she bit me twice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dany laughed and snuggled into his waiting embrace. He was delightfully warm even with his rosy cheeks and his breath clouding up the air. She watched Ghost and Drogon flutter down and land beside their screaming children, nudging their little heads through the bars and hooting softly. All four settled slowly, their first real day of exercise catching up with them. Jon hugged her and rubbed her sides for warmth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Think we’ll ever have that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? A pack of screaming quadruplets?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon grunted in acquiesce. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am not pushing out four babies at once,” Dany told him sternly. “I don’t care how nice your dick is or how cute our kids are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just one, and maybe a second one a few years after.” He kissed her hair. “You said it earlier and I dunno. I can’t stop thinking about us, half a dozen years down the road…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d like that. Although, if every Valentine’s Day is spent dealing with our owls offspring, we’re unlikely to manage a kid of our own.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Suppose I </span>
  <em>
    <span>could</span>
  </em>
  <span> ship Ghost off to mother that year.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm, that might help a bit. He’s a horny toad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ghost gave them an offended look and flapped his wings in outrage.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, you are, boy,” Jon told him, grinning. “Keep a lid on it if you won’t use contraceptives, got it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Drogon hooted in agreement, and Dany couldn’t help but laugh. They had four sleeping owls, and one disgruntled owl father, but all the same, she had Jon now. He was both more and less than she might have asked for; a love she’d never considered, but there was no denying Ghost and Drogon’s shenanigans had worked out well for them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perhaps they’re our lucky charm, them and their eggs and babies,” Dany mused. “Afterall, we wouldn’t be here, together, if they hadn’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s true. Might never have spoken once.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Until we’re both professors,” Dany reminded him. They’d both decided to pursue that career path, one that Professor Lannister had encouraged. “Think of it this way, if they keep fucking, we can give all of our students their own owls. What do you think?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jon laughed. “Our own Hogwarts owl army. You’ve got a deal.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So that is that for Raising Love. A short, little fun adventure into Hogwarts AU land.</p>
<p>I'll be back with other stories soon, I hope. I've got a longer one I've been starting up, so I'll likely start posting that once I can figure out a name for it. Clockwork Queens? Twilight of a Nightingale? Eh, I might have to flip a coin on the naming front lol. Essentially, it's a Targaryens won on the Trident AU. With Elia and Rhaella and Lyanna navigating their roles and trying to get their kids to have the lives they want and all the politics and changes as Jon and Dany grow up together and, like, save the world and shit xD. Summaries are the worst and I  hate writing them.</p>
<p>Until then, thank you for reading and loving this little story! Stay safe!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>